Necromancer's Revenge

by yellowlabluvr

Takes place immediately after the other story I posted. The necromancer from the Necrodrome had an apprentice who isn't happy with our group.

Blood Ties

Necromancer's Revenge

Vicky

The first thing I remember when I opened my eyes was getting into Henry's car. My whole body felt like I'd run a marathon. The blur of the room around me told me I wasn't home. I felt the sheets under my fingers. Silk. Red, by the looks of it. Henry. I vaguely remembered him carrying me up to his apartment. If I was in his bed, then where was he? I nearly jumped to the ceiling when I realized I wasn't really wearing any clothes. Cursing my eyes, I began feeling around for my glasses. My right hand felt them, my left felt a sleeping body. Now, I did jump out of the bed. Henry was sleeping quite peacefully next to where I had been. Where were my clothes? I looked around the apartment. At least I didn't need to worry about being seen. Henry wasn't a big fan of sunlight. I walked around a few minutes and saw my pile of clothes. No wonder he'd changed me. Brown streaks ran down my shirt and stained my pants. My blood. I'd nearly died. Not really wanting to put those clothes back on, I grabbed one of his silk robes and tied it around my body. Since he was still sleeping, and would be for a few more hours, I wandered to his drawing table. He hated to let anyone look at it, so this was my only chance. Such a talented artist. I picked up a picture that caught my eye. It must be for a new book. A warrior graced the cover. Adjusting my glasses and bringing it closer to inspect it, I realized this was what he'd drawn a few days ago when I'd been by last. I was the inspiration of his new graphic novel. I didn't know if it should be flattering or offensive. A gasp of air and rustle in the other room drew my attention.

"Vicky?" his voice called.

I walked in and paused at the doorway. He smiled at me, eyes soft. It wasn't a look I'd ever seen before.

"Good evening," he said, stretching his arms up.

The movement drew my eyes down his torso. No doubt that was his intent.

"Again with the staring, Vicky. This is getting to be a bad habit of yours."

I smiled back, leaning against the doorframe.

"I didn't think you'd mind." I replied a little uncharacteristically.

He sat up now, fully awake.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are when you're sleeping?"

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks.

"I think it has to do with the fact that you're not talking when you're unconscious."

I crossed my arms. I walked right into that one.

"What do you remember about last night," he asked, sliding out of the bed.

I looked away when I realized he was comfortably walking around nude.

"Vicky. Focus."

Staring up at the patterns on the ceiling, I recounted the foggy memories I had.

"Do you remember having a talk with Mike?"

Mike. He had to be worried. Or angry. Oh no.

"I told him it couldn't ever work between us."

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"That all really happened, didn't it?"

He walked over to me, now at least wearing his boxers.

"What else? What else do you remember?"

"You helped me out of the school gym. Then," I paused. The memory popped up, clearer than anything else.

"You kissed me."

He smiled. Then he was standing close to me. I felt my heart leap. It was like our last stake out, all over again. Except he didn't back away. And I couldn't go anywhere. Not that I really wanted to. I kept my eyes locked with his brown ones. They looked like melted milk chocolate.

"What are you thinking about?" he whispered, tucking some of my hair behind my ear.

"Chocolate," I whispered back, barely audible.

I closed my eyes as his cool hand drifted over my neck. I could smell him, a delicious scent that was indescribable. His lips fluttered over mine. The last time he'd kissed me, I'd lost a lot of blood and couldn't respond. This time was different. I moved closer to him, pressing my body against his. His arms moved around my waist, pulling me even closer. I pulled away for a moment, gasping for air. His lips moved to my neck, kissing gently down to my collar bone. Somehow, the sash around my robe got loose and the robe itself began to sag off my shoulders. Then his lips were back on mine, hungry with desire. My fingers ran through his hair as his hands ran up my back. Suddenly, the door to his apartment burst open. I gasped at the unexpected intrusion. Henry growled, eyes turning black. A rather large man stood in the doorway.

"You've made a grave mistake, entering my home," Henry growled.

"My master would like to see you."

The man wasn't looking at Henry, but at me. Being a supernatural magnet sometimes had unfortunate timing. The direction of the man's message had obviously not escaped Henry.

"You should not have come here," he said, stepping in front of me.

"You should not have upset my master," the man, if you could call it a man, replied.

Moving quickly and efficiently, he pushed Henry out of the way, which is no easy task, and hefted me over his shoulder. Had I been wearing my clothes, I could have pulled out my night stick, but it was still in the pile in the living room. I fought against him, of course, and in the process lost my glasses. I heard them fall and crack. Perfect. Now I was kidnapped and blind.

Henry

The smell of her and the sound of her blood pushed me over an edge I didn't realize I was close to. I should have known better. I didn't even hear him coming. By the time I smelled the decay, it was too late. Another necromanced body, by the smell of it. I sat up, wincing at the pain in my chest. It wasn't very often any creature got the better of me. I didn't like the feeling. I didn't like the feeling of knowing Vicky had been kidnapped right in front of me. I noticed her glasses on the floor, broken. She wouldn't be able to know where she was or how to get out. She didn't have her phone on her either. I growled and punched a hole int he wall next to me. This was all a perfect setup. And it was all my fault. Vicky was kidnapped, blind, and defenseless because of me. I needed help.

"Coreen. Vicky's been kidnapped."

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" came her frantic voice over the phone.

"I don't have time to tell the whole story. I just need you to go through all of the information we still have on that Egyptian necromancer. A deceased person just stole her."

I hung up without any pleasantries. I wasn't feeling very pleasant at the moment. The next phone call I had to make wouldn't be a very fun one.

"Celluci."

"Mike. It's Henry."

"What do you want, leech?"

I rolled my eyes. There was nothing new under the sun.

"I need your help."

Mike laughed.

"I'm not going to cover anything up for you."

"It's not for me. It's Vicky."

"What did you do to her?" he asked, getting defensive and quiet.

"Why do you always assume I did something? She was kidnapped. I need your help finding her."

That seemed to get his attention.

"What happened?"

I relayed the whole intrusion to him. I was very grateful that he didn't mock my inability to fight off the reanimated corpse.

"Think it might have anything to do with the Necrodrome we shut down a few months ago?"

I sighed. That was exactly my fear.

"Coreen is pulling everything we've got on it, but I think there was something we missed. There had to be someone else connected to Ivan."

"An apprentice? You think he trained someone?"

"It's possible."

By now, my frustration had dissipated a little through my pacing. We needed to find her, and fast. If this supposed apprentice had Vicky, it couldn't go well. All three of us were responsible for putting Ivan away.

"I need to speak with Ivan. Can you get me in to see him?"

Mike hesitated.

"Well. You remember the prison riots last week? He was among the casualties."

A new possibility struck me.

"Then if we are dealing with his necromancing apprentice, we need to keep his body under guard."

"He's buried in an unmarked grave. I don't even know which cemetery."

This just got worse and worse.

"Then we need to comb through his life again and find what we missed. Vicky's life depends on it."

"I'll do what I can."

Pulling my doors closed, I headed to where Ivan had used to live. Hopefully it hadn't been cleaned out and sold to another tenant. I paused outside the building, listening, smelling. It reeked of decay, that sweet scent of death. No heartbeats. Jumping into an open window, I began looking around. Vicky and I had never been here before. The police had ransacked it after he'd been arrested. Maybe if we'd come, she wouldn't be missing. I looked through his books, his desk, his planners. There was nothing that suggested he was teaching someone. That was when I noticed it. There were drag marks on the wood floor near the bookshelf.

"How cliche, Ivan," I mumbled as I approached the bookcase.

Pushing gently, the whole case swung toward me on well-oiled hinges. Inside was the shrine I'd been searching for. It was immaculately clean and well organized, unlike the rest of Ivan's house. The candles looked new as well. So, there was an apprentice, and it seemed they visited Ivan's home quite a bit. On the small table were several sets of tablets. They were very similar to the ones we'd found at the Necrodrome. On the wall behind the table were three photographs. All candid, obviously taken when the subjects weren't aware they were being photographed. There was one of me, one of Mike and one of Vicky. All three had red 'x's on them. It seemed that the aggression was pointed mostly at Mike and I. Vicky was just a means to an end. A name. I needed a name to point me in the direction I had to go. My phone began to ring.

"Coreen?"

"Hey Henry. I think I found something that might help. There was a woman that no one spoke to. She was the secretary at the funeral home where Ivan worked with his father. I made some phone calls. No one's seen her since the Necrodrome got shut down."

"What's her name? Is there a last known address?"

I heard some papers shuffling as she searched through her information.

"Daisy Lester. She lives in the same building as Ivan. One floor below him, actually. Exactly one floor."

"Thanks Coreen."

I texted Mike the information and told him I would meet him at the apartment. The door was wide open when I arrived. Waiting for Mike was difficult, but I had a feeling that what we found inside would need to be seen at the same time.

"Did you do that?" Mike asked as he approached the opened door.

"I came downstairs and waited. She was waiting for us."

We both walked in slowly, unsure of what awaited us. The whole apartment looked like it'd been taken out of a magazine. Perfect matching between the couches and the decorations on the wall. All very Egyptian. A little red cell phone began buzzing on the coffee table directly in front of us. I answered it and placed it on speaker, so Mike could hear too. "Hello, Detective. And hello, blood sucker. I see you've finally begun."

"You're playing a dangerous game, Daisy. Entering my home and stealing Vicky from me does not bode well for you."

I couldn't keep the anger from my voice. It came out more like a growl.

"Oh, Mr. Fitzroy. None of the things you say will save her. This is a game and you have to play by my rules. Or Vicky suffers," there was a pause. "Well, suffers more."

"What have you done to her?!" Mike yelled into the device.

"Detective! Such passion! I'm sure she'll appreciate the two men striving to save her and the feelings that drive them. So easy to manipulate. You took Ivan from me. All of you. So, now I will take something from you that means a great deal to you."

This whole ordeal had taken some great planning. Daisy must have decided to do this shortly after Ivan had been arrested.

"So, vampire, have you figured out where I am yet? You should know. It's one of your favorite haunts."

The line clicked. It was clear our strange conversation was over.

"One of your favorite haunts? What does she mean by that?" Mike asked, turning to me.

"I don't know. I try to keep my... habits from becoming clear to anyone. No one's found out my system before. I don't know what she's talking about."

And I really didn't. Mike didn't seem to buy it, but he kept quiet for now. We walked around the rest of the apartment, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was trying to figure out what she'd meant. Haunt. One of my favorites. I should know. Her words echoed through my mind, repeating over and over again. Then it hit me. No. She couldn't have meant... could she?

Vicky

The ride to wherever I was being held wasn't much fun. Not that I'd expected it to be.

I'm not sure why I was blindfolded. I couldn't see anyways. Wherever I was, I knew the minimal clothing I wore wasn't enough. I was sitting on a cold wooden floor, and there was a draft in the building. I pulled the silk robe tighter around myself, not that it mattered.

"Hello?" I called.

All I heard was my own voice echoing back to me.

"HELLO?" I yelled.

Still no response. I stood and felt my way around the room I was in. Brick. The walls were made of brick. They felt old. I stubbed my toe on a pillar in the middle of the room. At that point, I decided to sit back down and try not to freeze to death.

I think I fell asleep because suddenly, there were footsteps echoing toward me.

"Stand," said a gruff voice.

I did my best, but my limbs were sore and I was really cold. It was the reanimated corpse that had taken me from Henry's place.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Master will see you now."

This one was much more articulate than the boxers at the Necrodrome. I shuffled along the wooden floor following the hulking figure before me. Lots of twisting and turning around this maze of a place. Even if I could see properly where I was going, I would have no way to get myself back out. Finally, it seemed we reached our destination.

"Vicky Nelson. So nice to see you again."

A blurry figure approached me. She sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place where we'd met before.

"Must be hard to not see so well. Are you nearsighted?"

"You know me so well. Why don't you answer yourself?"

I tried to move away from the thing coming at my face, but I realized it was my back up pair of glasses. As my eyes adjusted to seeing again, I looked around. Clearly, we were underground. This place was like a time capsule. Straight out of the 1920's. My eyes wandered back to my captor.

"Daisy."

She smiled at me, wickedly.

"You do remember me! I was hoping that would be the case. Now, I'm sure you're chilly in those clothes, but it's what you have, so we'll have to make do for now. I might be able to get you a coat. or pants, but for now, you're stuck."

For a kidnapper, she was being nicer than I thought she would be.

"You must be a great necromancer. This animated corpse is much more articulate than others I've come in contact with in the past."

"Ivan was a wonderful necromancer. And he was taken from me. The detective and the vampire took him from me. And you are the pawn that will draw them into my game. It's working perfectly so far."

I crossed my arms to cover up a shiver.

"So, what exactly am I supposed to do?"

A dark gleam entered her eyes.

"Absolutely nothing."

She spun away from me, hands laced behind her back.

"Take her to her room, please. Thank you."

The animated man grabbed my shoulders and pushed me in a different direction. I was pushed into a smaller room that felt like a vault. Once I was inside, the door was closed and locked behind me. Not that I could have escaped if I did get out. Looking around this new room, I noticed a camera in the corner, pointed at me. When I moved, it moved. The animated corpse was probably in charge of it. This couldn't bode well for Henry. Daisy had mentioned Mike, hadn't she? If they were together, looking for me, things could get ugly. At least for now, keeping me alive was a good part of her plan. That meant I would get food and hopefully pants in the near future. I couldn't even remember the last time I ate. Probably before the whole showdown at the school gymnasium. There was a screech over a speaker in the wall.

"Okay Vicky. Time to play your part. They're watching."

I pulled the robe tighter around me. Hopefully Mike wasn't watching. This was embarrassing.

"Smile for the camera!" Daisy crackled again.

I stared straight at the camera.

"I'm fine guys. I promise. I'm okay."

I didn't know if they could hear me or not, but hopefully they'd get the idea that I was at least ok. A few moments after that, the little red light went out. I pulled my knees to my chest and surveyed my quarters again. There was no getting out of this one. My fate rested in the hands of the two men that meant the most in my life. This was going to be a long night.

Henry

Pacing through my living room was becoming tedious. Without any further information, There was nothing more I could do. Mike was woking on some leads down at the station, but sunrise continued approaching and then I would be able to do even less. A knock at my door drew my attention. Coreen. I opened it and she entered without speaking, the worry clear in her eyes. None of her usual flirting either. She was worried for Vicky.

"I just got an email. I'm pretty sure it's meant for you."

I took the laptop from her and sat down on the couch slowly. The email read:

"Consider this proof that Vicky is alive and well. I haven't harmed her. Though, she's probably quite chilly."

I clicked on the link below the message. A grainy, black and white video filled my screen. Coreen gasped. Vicky sat in the corner of a small room, dressed in only the silk robe she'd taken from my closet. Not that I minded. She made it look very good. She was saying something, but there was no audio with this video. She seemed to be saying she was ok. Once she was satisfied her message had gotten across, her face fell. My phone rang, forcing me to tear my eyes away from the screen.

"Figure it out yet, vampire?"

"Daisy. At least give her a jacket. I can see her shivering!"

"Yes. Well. To get a gift, a task must be completed."

Great. She had all the leverage and she knew it.

"What task?"

"I will give the phone to Vicky and you have to tell her."

If my blood had been pumping, it would have run cold.

"Tell her what?"

Her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper.

"Tell her that one thing you've been afraid too. That one little thing that you've known, but unable to share. That truth about your feelings for her."

"She already knows about my feelings for her. That's nothing new."

"No, no no no. I'm not talking about emotions, Mr. Fitzroy. I'm talking about that other thing. The singing."

How could she possibly...

"How do you know about that? I haven't told anyone. No one knows about that."

Coreen looked at me, scared and worried. I turned away from her.

"I know so many things, Mr. Fitzroy. So many, many things. Will you tell her? Or will you let her freeze?"

I gritted my teeth. This was just going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

Vicky

I think I was dozing off again when my door opened. Daisy walked in, a wicked grin on her face. In one hand was a cell phone, the other, a jacket. It didn't make any sense.

"Someone's calling for you, my dear. Would you like me to take a message?"

"Who is it?"

"Your vampire lover, of course," she said, tossing me the cell phone.

My numb fingers couldn't catch the phone, so it slid across the wooden floor a few feet. I picked it up quickly.

"Henry?"

"Vicky!" came his voice on the other end. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm a little cold, but I'm ok. What's going on?"

"Vick." he sighed. Something was up.

"Henry. What's happening?"

I sat up a little bit.

"Vick, I have to tell you something."

"Who died?"

"No one. Everyone's fine. Mike's working down at the station and Coreen is here trying to pull information together. This is something I should have told you a long time ago."

I felt my heart begin to race. What was happening?

"After you fed me, something changed. A connection formed. I don't know how to describe it exactly. But your blood it... affects me."

"Affects you, how, exactly?"

I didn't know where this was leading, but it scared me a little.

"It's like it hums. It sings to me. There's something about it that is completely in tune with me. Like a pure single note. I can hear it, no matter where I am. I can feel it."

Now I was more than a little scared. What did this mean?

"What does that mean, Henry?"

"It means that at first, I was attracted to you. Something about you, about the song, drew me in. But it's grown from that."

"Grown how?"

My heart was racing by now.

"It's grown from attraction to desire."

Desire? That didn't make any more sense than did my blood singing to him.

"Desire how? Like sexual desire? You're hungry?"

"Yes and no. Everything. When I feed, I can only feel you. I just want you, Vicky."

Pure desire. I've never had someone tell me that they wanted me before. And he had sounded so urgent about it, almost desperate.

"Vicky? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept this from you. I didn't know how to tell you."

"So. When your with me, do you want to kill me? Do you want to feed on me all the time? When we kissed today?"

I didn't realize how upset this whole thing had made me until the tear made it's chilly way down my face.

"Vicky," his voice sounded pained, desperate.

"Just tell me."

"Part of me wants to taste you again. Taste your blood, taste your skin. Part of my nature is the desire to feed. But kill you? I'd sooner watch the sunrise."

I clamped my hand over my mouth. Maybe it was the cold making me so emotional, but I didn't need him to hear me crying. He probably could anyway.

"Vicky. Say something. Can you forgive me?"

I took a deep, shaking breath when Daisy took the phone from me.

"Good job, Mr. Fitzroy. She gets the jacket. Hopefully the detective will perform as well as you have. We'll find out soon enough."

She ended the call and threw the jacket at me. Pulling it around me, I tried to wipe the tears from my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red light come on above the video camera.

"That's a live feed, Vicky. Now Henry can see the pain he's caused. Don't try turning away from the camera. It isn't the only one," Daisy crackled over the speaker again.

I pulled the jacket tightly around me, desperate to begin generating heat. I couldn't stop the emotions that flowed through me. I was angry he'd kept this from me, scared at what it meant and unsure of what to do with all of it. I knew he was watching, but I needed the time to deal. Hopefully Henry would know what I had tried to say before Daisy had taken the phone away.

Henry

The line clicked. I didn't know what Vicky had tried to say. I tried to call Daisy back, but it didn't pick up. I screamed.

"Henry. It's Vicky," Coreen called from another room.

I rushed to her side. She didn't even finch.

"What is this? Another part of her game?"

She pulled the video to fill the whole screen.

"I think this is live. She looks like she's crying." She turned to look at me. "What did you do?"

Her eyes burned at me. I couldn't look away from the broken image before me. I did this. Better to have loved and lost rather than never loved at all? Lies.

"Henry?" Coreen asked quietly.

She looked so tired. She hadn't slept since Vicky had been taken. Probably even since before the incident with the angry ghost.

"It's almost sunrise," she said, breaking into my thoughts. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I'm fine."

I couldn't feed now. Not after hearing her broken voice and watching her hurt.

"You're no good to her, or anyone else, if you're dead. I'll stay here and watch her. You go eat. I'll call you if something changes?"

"Fine. But you go home and sleep when I get back."

She nodded.

Instead of pulling my car out, I decided to walk. It helped take the edge off my anger. I almost went to one of my favorite clubs. I had some... friends there, ready for a quick snack. The very thought of sinking my teeth into some woman's neck repulsed me. Better to find someone that deserved punishment. A scream erupted from an alley. Perfect.

"Help! Somebody, please!" she cried.

I came around the corner too fast for her to see. All she knew was her attacker no longer held a knife at her throat. She ran after a moment's hesitation.

"What are you?" he asked as my eyes turned black.

I answered him with a particularly rough bite to the neck. Immediately, the sweet taste of blood and fear filled my mouth. I sank my teeth deeper into his flesh. He struggled against me, as they always do, but it was pointless. The satisfaction of the hunt overwhelmed me. Except the humming. Almost too quiet to hear, I could easily ignore it. But it wouldn't be that easy, would it? For a moment, it was. Growling with satisfaction, i sank my teeth in again, draining the last of his life from him. The humming got louder. I couldn't ignore anything about Vicky. I stared at the rapidly cooling corpse in my hands. Tossing him in the dumpster, I did my best to erase the fact that I had been there. Glancing up at the sky, I ran home.

Coreen was asleep on my couch when I got back, Vicky on the screen in front of her. As my blinds began to close, I took the computer in my hands. She'd stopped crying, at least, and was sleeping, the jacket held tightly around her.

"I'm so sorry, Vicky," I said quietly, touching the screen.

Hopefully Mike had some leads. I wasn't sure how much more either of us could take.

Mike

I didn't really sleep. Kate didn't ask why. Homicide cops have lots of sleepless nights. No one at the station knew Vicky was missing. Once at my desk, I began pulling anything and everything on Daisy Lester. By mid-morning, I knew about everything she'd done in the last three years. The phone on my desk rang.

"Celluci."

"Good morning, Detective. How did you sleep last night? Does Kate know why you're so restless?"

I looked around quickly and replied in a low, quiet voice.

"How do you know that? What do you want?"

"Check your email. There's something I think you'll want to see."

Click. I hesitated. Do I call Jeb to trace the last call to my desk? Or do I look up the email? I dialed Jeb while pulling up my inbox.

"I need a trace on the last call to my desk."

"Sure. What for?"

I paused. If I told him, everyone else would know about it. No one else could get involved.

"A personal favor. I'll owe you."

Jeb thought about it for a moment as I sifted through my emails.

"Ok. Give me a few. I'll call you back when I've got something."

There. I clicked on it. No words, just a link. A grainy video popped up on my screen. Vicky. My heart stopped. She looked cold and tired. What was she wearing? A silk robe? Henry had mentioned she'd been with him when she'd been taken. Maybe she'd been with him. The very thought brought the taste of bile to his mouth. The video stopped. My phone rang again.

"Celluci."

"I have warmer clothes for her to wear. But to receive a gift, an action must be done. Gifts are earned."

Daisy. He wanted nothing more than to tell the woman to go to hell, but Vicky's life was in her hands.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Your part is two-fold, Detective. The vampire has played his part already. Now, it's your turn. Destroy any and all information you have on me. No copies, no print outs, no hiding things. Destroy everything. Do you understand?"

I had been expecting something close to this.

"I could loose my job for this."

The deceptively sweet tone she'd had disappeared.

"Vicky could loose her life. I don't have to feed her or give her anything else. That's not really up to me. You're not doing well, so far, Detective."

She spit the last word at me.

"I'm sorry. What's the other thing I have to do?"

"That's better. You need to tell her how you feel. She knows what the vampire feels about her, but not you. After you do your first part, I will allow you to tell her. Call me when it's done."

Click. She was gone, again. So, she's using me to erase her from the system. This was for Vicky. I couldn't say no. Pushing one button could save her life and destroy my career. And for what? She'd already told me it wouldn't happen. I would probably be in love with her forever. I pushed the button.

Once the information was gone, I took my cell phone and went to the only place I could get some privacy

"Hello, Detective," she sang on the first ring. "I trust it is finished?"

"It is," my voice echoed through the cement stairwell.

"Are you hiding, Mike? Don't want Kate to hear? Don't want her to find out how much you've lied to her?"

"Just let me talk to Vicky."

She sighed. I just wanted to get this over with. Pulling the bandaid off quickly, as it were.

"Men. Always so impatient. Fine. Remember, I know the truth. Don't try and lie your way out of it."

There was a second of silence.

"Hello? Henry?"

Words cannot describe the feeling I got when she asked for him.

"No, Vicky. It's Mike."

"Mike! I'm so glad to hear from you. I'm doing fine, I promise." She said quickly, trying to sound happy.

"Vicky, I need to tell you something."

I sat down on a stair. This was going to be fun.

"God, not you too."

"I have to. I don't know what she'll do to you if I don't."

"Mike. I can't take any more of this today. After what Henry told me, I can't hear what you're going to say."

The knife in my chest just drove deeper and deeper.

"Vicky, I'm in love with you," I spilled out before I lost the courage.

"No. No no no no no," she whispered.

"DON'T YOU DARE HANG UP, VICKY." I heard Daisy scream.

"Vicky, I don't think there's been a time since I met you that I haven't been in love with you."

"Mike," she sobbed. "Please stop."

"I don't know how, Vicky. I just risked my career for you."

"Mike, I tried to tell you yesterday."

"I know you did. And I understand. I just needed you to know."

Silence again.

"Good job, Detective. I'll call you again very soon."

Vicky

Too much. This was all too much. First Henry and his strange 'desire'. Now Mike telling me he'd been in love with me since we'd met. I ran my hands through my hair. This was not the type of imprisonment I'd been imagining. I think if she were cutting me or beating me, I could handle it. But this? This was... Draining. I don't know how to deal with it. Any of it. My prison door opened suddenly, making me jump. The animated corpse came in with a pile of clothes. I recognized them. They were from my apartment. They'd been in my apartment.

"Dress. Master wishes to move you."

He threw the clothes at me and then left. Eagerly I dressed in my clothes, already a little more comfortable.

"Come." the animated man said.

I followed him through the hallways that I realized were tunnels. If I hand't already thought we were underground, this was confirmation. I pulled the jacket tighter.

I entered a room that was richly decorated. It looked ancient. Like it hadn't been used in decades. Red and gold paint decorated the walls in an intricate design that entertained my eyes. My eyes weren't entertained by the walls for long. A large screen awaited me at the other end of the room. Daisy stood next to it. She'd changed. She was wearing a tight jean miniskirt and a pastel pink blouse. If I didn't know what was really happening, I'd have thought she was in a sorority.

"Evening, Vicky. Sleep well? How are you feeling? I bet you're exhausted. I know I would be if I had a man and an undead man profess their love for me. Both in the same day."

My hands balled into fists. She was trying to get a reaction out of me. And I'm trying not to give her a reaction.

"My dear. I have something I'd like for you to watch. I think you'll find it... Interesting."

I sat down in front of the monitor and watched. Nothing was happening yet. I had a sinking feeling that something was about to.

Henry

When I woke at sunset, Coreen was gone. She'd left her computer on my coffee table. I sat down to look at the screen, but it was empty. My phone rang. This was really starting to irritate me.

"Good evening, vampire. You should call the detective. There's something the two of you need to discuss. You'll meet at the address I text the detective. I'm sure Vicky is quite hungry. You both can help. Except gifts must be earned."

I waited for the inevitable phone call. Mike was probably getting a similar phone call from Daisy right now. Only he would have the address. So, instead of waiting and doing nothing, I drove to his house. The upstairs window was open. I couldn't help but laugh. So he really does sleep with the windows open.

"Let's go." Mike said as he sat down in my car.

He showed me the address. It was clear across town. I couldn't figure out why she wanted us to be in a specific place.

It took us almost thirty minutes with the evening traffic. Finally, we arrived. Once we were inside the building, a note was waiting for us.

"What the hell is this place?" Mike asked, looking around.

"It was built in 1920. It used to be an orphanage."

"Henry," Mike began reading the note. "Being undead, and with Vicky almost every day, means you can protect her better than, say, Mike."

He glared at me.

"But, sometimes, you need protecting. How many times has Vicky saved your life? Do share with the class."

Mike set the small piece of paper down and stared at me.

"You told me that you would protect her."

"I do."

He shook his head and began walking in a wide circle.

"No. Not if she's saving your life. How many times."

"I don't know. Several."

He leaned forward and stared at me.

"Several? So this wasn't just a once or twice kind of thing?"

Unfortunately.

"No. She's fed me once or twice, when I needed it. She once poisoned her life force to save me from a mayan mummy."

"Poisoned her life force? What does that do? How could you let that happen?"

"I don't know. She got her hands on one of my older books. I told her to let me die, it was my time. She didn't listen. You know how she gets when she's determined. There was no reasoning with her. She didn't understand the consequences."

"CONSEQUENCES? What does that mean?!"

"I DON'T KNOW! She didn't tell me what spell she used. I don't know what price she had to pay."

"Consequences? Prices? It's a miracle she's not dead yet! You might as well just turn her into one of you and save us all the trouble."

He never understood. That wasn't something I was willing to do. She'd already asked me once.

"No. That would only create more problems."

"For who? You? Because two of you can't share the same territory? Yeah. I listen to Vicky more than she thinks."

"Not just me. It isn't what she thinks she wants. This isn't something I would ever inflict on anyone."

"She's asked you before, hasn't she?"

I couldn't answer him. I think he tried to punch me. I also think it broke his hand.

"Mike, I'm dead. I don't really feel things the same way anymore. Sorry."

"How many other times has she saved you? Since obviously this is our next 'goal'."

"I honestly couldn't say. Too many times for my taste. I don't like being helpless."

"And you still think you're what's best for her?"

I sighed. I knew I wasn't the best one for her. But that was her choice, not mine. She had her opportunity to be with someone normal, to have a normal life. She made a decision.

"That's not up to me. I don't think I'm good for her, but at least I can protect her when I'm with her."

"You mean when she's not protecting or saving you."

My phone rang.

"You are a couple of idiots." Vicky scolded.

Vicky

I watched the unchanging screen for almost forty-five minutes before something happened. Mike and Henry walked into the room I'd been staring at for near an hour. Their speech was mumbled and difficult to understand. I leaned closer and concentrated. The whole time I watched, I realized they didn't know they were on camera. Henry always hated the times I'd saved his life. He'd helped me so much since I'd been introduced to the supernatural side of life. His life was too important to me to just let it slip away. Several minutes passed before the arguing seemed to dissipate. Daisy set a plate of bread and cheese in front of me. My stomach lurched. I hadn't eaten anything in so long. Next to the food, Daisy placed a cell phone.

"You may call whomever you choose to tell them you are eating. They don't know you saw their argument. You can tell them if you wish."

I stuffed a piece of cheese into my mouth as the phone rang. He picked up.

"You are a couple of idiots." I said.

"Vick? Are you ok? How did you get a phone? Do you know where you are?"

"I'm supposed to tell you that I've gotten something to eat. I suppose I have you both to thank for that."

I swallowed. It was so good to eat something.

"About what I told you before..."

"Henry. Take care of Mike's hand. Yeah. I saw, and heard, the whole argument. You are such men. Maybe I should just leave the city and leave you two ladies to fight amongst yourselves."

"Vicky. Don't be upset. That's her goal."

"Well, then she's accomplished it. Because I can't believe Mike thinks that I can't take care of myself and I can't believe you're actually upset that I saved your life. Your life means a great deal to me. But next time, maybe I won't save it."

"Vicky..."

"No. I'm hanging up this time. I have a dinner to eat."

I hung up the phone and tossed it next to the last pieces of bread and cheese. I ate them, but not as happily as I had started. Clearly, Mike and Henry weren't the only ones getting tortured in this strange little game.

"Daisy," I asked as she took the phone from the little table. "Why did you wait so long to do all of this? You obviously put a lot of effort and planning into this whole little game. Why strike now?"

"Because fate smiled upon me. I had been trying to plan a way to execute my wonderful plan for all of you. That whole incident at the gymnasium was a wonderful show. It truly was. I knew you'd be exhausted. My plan had been to kidnap you at your own home, but taking you from Henry was just so much more perfect. The look on his face when my servant took you is something I'll not soon forget."

Speaking of the walking dead.

"Who was he? Before you reanimated him, I mean."

"Him? Ooh no one important. Just a bouncer from a club. He lost the fight with his drug dealer. Surprising, isn't it? I mean, he's not a small man. But I suppose he's the reason you don't bring a knife to a gun fight, as they say."

The bouncer grabbed my shoulders again and pushed me toward my room again. I tried to observe all that I could about this strange building. The door to my cell was very strange. The wall seemed to be old wood paneling, probably from the 20's like the rest of the building. The bouncer opened the door, which I had no idea was right in front of me. It seemed this place had lots of secret rooms, hidden from plain sight. Odd. Once alone, I had to find a way to tell Mike or Henry about the dead bouncer. Maybe that would help them find me. Although, at this point, I wasn't sure if I wanted them to find me. Not when they were bickering like old women. I still couldn't believe that all of their bickering was over me. There wasn't anything that special about me. Sitting here and thinking about it wasn't going to help get me out of here. I had to do something. The red light above the camera was still on, so hopefully someone was still watching my live feed. I was pretty sure no one could hear me without a cell phone. I got as close to the camera as I could.

"Club bouncer, reanimated." I said.

Not even Henry would be able to read my lips like that well. I had to try again.

"CluB BoounceR, RE-ANI-MAAAT-ED." I tried again, hoping that my strange noises would make my lips more readable.

The bouncer entered my room quickly. He didn't look happy.

"Bad choice," he said gruffly.

His huge left fist made contact with the side of my face. I fell to the ground with a grunt. He kicked me in the gut, raising a burning pain with each contact. Picking me up, he pushed me against the wall and began punching my face. Lucky for me, he didn't spend too much time there, but I could feel my face swelling.

"Enough." Daisy called, her air of 'cuteness' gone.

She stared at me with cold, hating eyes. There was no soul behind them, no feeling. More than anything, it made me feel sad to look at her like this.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice? My whole job is to watch you and watch them play my game. You cannot change the rules. Gifts must be earned and rules must be followed. Actions have consequences. This is yours. You will suffer more if you try anything like that again."

The corpse let go of my shirt and I dropped to the ground. More blood on another set of clothes. I'm going to have to throw these away too. My closet kept shrinking. Tucking my glasses into a pocket in the jacket, I took a deep breath. Searing pain laced up my sides. I probably had a broken rib. A cracked one at the very least. The blood in my mouth tasted metallic. I spit it out. Everyone out there had better get my message, otherwise I'd gotten beat up for nothing. This had better work.

Henry

I tried to talk Mike into going back to his house. Or work. Or anywhere. The tension in the air around us was palatable. You could scoop it up with a spoon. When we entered my home, Coreen looked concerned.

"Henry. You need to see this."

I sat down on my couch quickly, Mike standing behind.

"It was back on the live feed, but I recorded this. I think she's trying to tell us something, but I can't tell what she's saying. And after..."

She looked away, but I heard the tone in her voice. Something happened. I clicked play and watched very carefully as she stared straight at the camera. She mumbled something I couldn't read. She tried again, over emphasizing the words.

"Club bouncer reanimated." I said, informing them of what she tried to say.

Coreen put her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. The following sequence, though short, was difficult to watch. Watching her get beaten was nearly unbearable. Mike looked away.

"How long ago was this?" I asked, looking over at Coreen, who was wiping tears away.

"Only a few minutes ago. It's still live. She hasn't moved from where he dropped her. I can't tell if she's breathing."

I was worried too.

"She is, but it's shallow. My guess is she has a cracked rib."

I closed the window with the recorded video. The live feed was up behind it.

"Mike, can you access police records from here?"

"Yeah, I can try. Why? What am I looking for?"

"Recent deaths of club bouncers. Stay within the last few months. The body wasn't that decayed when I met him."

He sat next to me and began typing away. I stared at the screen, but I wasn't seeing it. The video of her beating replayed in my mind. My imagination added sound effects, which just made it worse.

"Here we go. Byron Dixon. He worked at an exclusive club downtown. Chiroptera."

No. I'd thought he'd looked familiar, but the bouncer at my favorite place to get fast food?

"What does 'chiroptera' even mean?"

"It means bat in latin. I've been by a few times."

Mike gave me an interesting look.

"Well, it says here that he was shot in the head by his alleged drug dealer. Does this help us at all?"

Yes. It told us a great deal.

"Now we know who's working for Daisy. That's who she reanimated to do her bidding."

"How does that help us find Vicky?"

It told me that she was doing this to get at me, more than at Mike. Why me? I don't know. Perhaps she views me differently than Mike. A depraved mind doesn't have to make sense to anyone.

"I don't know."

I needed to study the video closely. Without any heartbeats around to distract me.

"Sunrise is in a few hours. You both need to go home. I'm the creature of the night, not you. Go home and rest. If anything changes, I'll call you."

Reluctantly, they both left me in peace. Well, as peaceful as I could be. I sat and studied the three walls of Vicky's prison that I could see. They were old. And cement. Underground somewhere. What kinds of buildings had cement walls underground? I sighed. Lots of things had cement walls underground. Basements, storage cellars, underground clubs. A thought struck me. The animated corpse she was using, Byron, was the old bouncer at a club I frequented. Perhaps this building was some place I'd been in the past. Where had I been in the past that was underground with cement walls. Unfortunately, there were too many places to count. I'd been around a long time, in this part of the country for a great deal of it. Perhaps my subconscious mind would work out those details while I slept. The sky was beginning to turn pink. Time to try and get some rest, like I'd told the others to do. As I awaited the void of sleep, my mind wandered to Vicky. Sleeping with injured ribs was never fun. Hopefully she was ok.

Mike

The day was eventless. Kate had come by my desk a few times to ask if I was alright. I told her I had something I was working on and it was like a puzzle with missing pieces. I didn't exactly lie to her, but I didn't tell her the truth either. Daisy clearly didn't like the idea of torturing me without Fitzroy present. Well, she didn't like directly torturing me. By doing nothing all day, at the very least, I was torturing myself. While I waited for the day to drag by, I looked over the file of the murdered bouncer from that club, Chiroptera. Nothing out of the ordinary. His heroine dealer was tired of not getting paid, so he'd shot Byron. I sighed. There was nothing new for me to look at. I was no closer to finding Vicky today than I was yesterday.

"Mike," Kate called.

I looked up from the crime scene photos of the bouncer.

"Any progress on that robbery homicide at the pawn shop?"

Oops. So much for doing my job. I glanced at the clock. 3:30. Three more hours until the sun sets. These long nights were beginning to get to me.

"Mike?"

Oh yeah. Kate.

"No. I don't have anything new." "What about that lead you said you were going to follow yesterday?" She asked, obviously irritated.

"Something came up. I didn't get to it."

She didn't believe me.

"Something came up? Did Vicky ask for your help again?"

"No."

Technically not a lie. Something else was bothering her.

"Is something wrong, Kate. Something seems off."

Then I saw it. She was seriously enraged about something. She didn't get upset about much, but when she did, it was usually explosive and violent.

"I got an interesting voicemail today, Mike," she spat.

With Daisy wreaking so much havoc, this didn't bode well.

"Oh? Should we go talk somewhere else?"

"Yes, lets," she said, venomously.

I followed her to an empty interrogation room. As soon as the door was closed, she released all the pent up anger.

"What the hell, Mike?"

"You're going to have to give me a little bit of context. I'm not sure what you're upset about," I said, not entirely truthful.

"Your weird phone call to Vicky Nelson? Yeah. You sent the recording to me this morning. Looks like your ineptitude with technology has finally bitten you in the ass."

I closed my eyes. Daisy struck again.

"Kate, I can explain."

"Oh yeah? Explain what? That you've been in love with Vicky since you met her? That our whole relationship is a lie? How are you going to explain that, Mike? HOW!?"

We were getting questioning looks from people outside, I was sure of it.

"Kate. I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen this way. Can I explain the situation?"

"The situation? You have an excuse for everything, don't you? You sleep with her while we were together?"

"What? No! Kate. I haven't been unfaithful."

She laughed humorlessly.

"Just in love with someone else. She love you too?"

Kate was quiet now, through the rage and into the hurt side of things. I sighed. There was no easy way for this to work.

"No, actually. Not for lack of trying, but she's with someone else."

"You asked her out while we were together. Bastard. Don't talk to me ever again."

I didn't miss the silent tears I'd caused. She stopped at the door, turned swiftly and slapped me square across the face. I deserved it, but it still stung. From stinging to burning, the left side of my face throbbed. It must have been very red, because I was getting stares from my coworkers.

Trying to distract myself, I looked over the robbery homicide that Kate and I had been working on. I couldn't keep myself engaged in it for very long, but it wasted enough time for me to leave. I still had roughly thirty minutes until the sun even started to go down, so I went to the bar close to Henry Fitzroy's house. I asked the bartender for something strong. I don't even know what he brought me, just that it burned all the way down. Things seemed to slow down after that first drink. Everything was a little less urgent, a little less serious. I don't know how long I sat there, but the bartender told me my cell phone kept ringing. I looked down at it, but it was too blurry to read.

"Helllloo?" I asked, my tongue feeling thick and heavy.

"Mike? Are you drunk?" Henry asked, a chuckle in his voice.

"Ummmmmm noo. Arre you drrrunk?" I slurred back.

Clearly, I was intoxicated, but it felt much better than the crap I'd been feeling previously.

"Seriously, Mike? Vicky's still in trouble and I think when she got beat up the other day, there was some serious internal damage. We need to find her, tonight. And you go out drinking? Where are you."

"The Worn Bottle."

I didn't hear the click, but everything felt a little foggy. This probably hadn't been a good idea.

"Mr. Fitzroy, what can I get you?" the barkeep asked a few foggy minutes later.

"My friend's tab, please. Thank you."

Suddenly, I was on my very wobbly feet and being led away from my place at the bar.

"Mike. We need to get you sobered up. I think I may have found something."

The words didn't make any sense to me, but I nodded as though I'd understood.

"Good ffffor you. Why don't you just go savve her and lllleave me outofit."

My speech seemed to be getting worse.

"I can't do that, as much as I might like to. Daisy dragged you into this as well, not just me."

Now we were back in his apartment. Coreen was on the couch.

"Is Mike drunk?" she asked, staring at me like she'd never seen a drunk man before.

"Shhhhhh. I'm ffffine."

Even I didn't believe myself. I probably should have shut myself up, but I couldn't restrain myself.

"You know, the Worn Bottle. That's a funny name. I suppose for a bar, it makes sense, but it's still strange. You don't wear out a bottle. You drink it, and then get a new one. You don't refill that bottle. I mean, come on. Who refills a six pack they got at the mini mart? That's right. No one."

I turned and looked at Coreen.

"Have you ever been there? The Worn Bottle? It's a funny looking place. Looks like it came straight out of the twenties. Which is silly. Since that's when prohibition was going on and bars were illegal. Can you imagine it? Bars being illegal? Alcohol being illegal? No wine with dinner, no beer with your Chinese. Nothing strong enough to make you forget how horrible you are. Illegal alcohol."

Now I was really rambling. Nothing I said made sense. Somehow, I wasn't slurring, but I was still foggy. Something warm was shoved in my hands.

"Coffee?" I asked, rolling my eyes up at Henry.

"You're no good to me or Vicky drunk. Now sober up."

I shuffled to the couch, somehow not falling over, and drank the hot coffee. I think I burned my tongue, but at that moment, I couldn't be sure of what I was feeling. It took me a while, but finally, my brain started to get less foggy. Fitzroy noticed.

"You wanna tell me what that was all about?" he asked, crossing his arms.

He looked really irritated.

"Daisy sent Kate the recording of our phone call."

He leaned forward.

"Phone call? What phone call?"

"I had to tell Vicky something. She said you did it too. Well, apparently, she recorded the conversation and sent it to Kate, saying it was from me. So, I broke Kate's heart. Maybe I had a few too many, but I felt like crap, so I needed to be numb for a while."

I glared up at him.

"You know, this is your fault. All of it."

He rolled his eyes at me. Sure, we'd had this argument before, but it still didn't make sense to me.

"No, I'm serious. If you'd just walked away after you met her, none of us would be in this kind of a situation. You brought this on her, you made this happen."

"If the roles were reversed with you and I, could you have walked away from her?"

Truth was, that had crossed my mind a thousand times and I knew the answer.

"I didn't think so." Henry replied, turning away from me.

"We need to get her back." I said, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice.

He pretended not to hear it.

Henry

Mike was rambling. Now, I didn't know the detective very well, but I think when he gets drunk, he just doesn't shut up. Mostly I tuned out what he said. He was talking about bars and alcohol, so there was no point in listening. Something caught my attention in his pointless babble.

"...prohibition was going on..."

Prohibition. No. Daisy couldn't possibly... How did she figure it out? I didn't ever tell anyone about my time in the States during prohibition. At the time, I'd owned several underground speakeasies. What can I say? Drunk patrons are easier to feed from and they were much less likely to ask questions. When I'd moved up north, I tried to make sure that all of the speakeasies I'd owned or been affiliated with had been destroyed, even after prohibition had ended. Clearly, one had been missed. How had she known about the one that hadn't been destroyed?

"...You brought this on her, you made this happen."

This argument again? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome, right? Maybe I should inform Mike.

"If the roles were reversed with you and I, could you have walked away from her?"

The answer was clear on his face. He couldn't answer me, as I'd expected.

"I didn't think so."

I turned away, trying to figure out what location Daisy was holding Vicky at. Mike said something that I didn't care to hear, I was busy watching Vicky.

"Hang on, Vick. We'll be there soon," I whispered, wishing she could hear me.

Vicky

It had been nice to eat, but that had been a while ago. Bread and cheese didn't really last very long, and the bread had been stale. More than anything, I ached. I'd kill for some painkillers right about now. I had a few cracked ribs, maybe some broken. The bouncer was a large man, quite adept at beating people. I was really lucky he hadn't broken my glasses. They were still watching me, or at least Daisy was. I turned away from the camera. The movement sent pain slicing through me like a knife. My arms wrapped around my ribcage as a cry escaped my lips. As far as I knew, there wasn't any audio in my cold prison, so maybe no one would know how much I hurt. I curled up, as comfortably as I could and went to sleep.

I usually don't dream. Or at least, I don't usually remember them. This one was different. I don't remember all of it, but enough to know that there were three people involved. Me, Mike and Henry. There was fighting. I don't know who won or lost, but something told me that no one really won anything.

I woke with a start, yelling 'no'. My ribs throbbed. I leaned my head against the cement wall.

"Henry," I whispered, knowing he couldn't hear me. "Henry, please. I just want to come home. Please find me."

I began crying uncontrollably. I wanted to rewind the last day. Or however long I'd been here. I didn't want to know how Mike felt anymore. I didn't want to know Henry's secret. I didn't want them to hate each other because of me. I didn't want any of this to have happened. I was so tired.

"There it is," Daisy's voice crackled over the speaker. "Now you understand. You are broken. You understand now how I felt when you arrested Ivan. Or how I felt when I found out he'd been killed while in prison. He didn't do anything wrong! They were already dead! No one was hurt! We always put the bodies back. And you took him from me!"

The door flew open. She had tears streaming down her face, the rage in her eyes was clear. Her intent was to kill me, with her own hands. My body hurt too much to get up, and I was stiff from my lack of movement. Daisy didn't seem to care. She grabbed the front of my coat and pulled me up. I couldn't hold back my cry as the fabric contracted around my ribs. She smacked me over and over. At some point, the swelling in my face stopped hurting. I could feel my grip on reality fading. Daisy must have seen it too, because she stopped before I collapsed. Though, as soon as she let go of me, I fell to the floor anyway. I think I felt something snap in my wrist, but I couldn't be sure.

"Remember this feeling, Vicky. This is how I felt when Ivan was taken from me," she said between her heavy breaths.

"Remember what? You and your puppet beating me?"

I was asking for what she gave me next. A swift kick to the ribs. If they hadn't been broken before, they certainly were now.

"What's next, Daisy," I wheezed. "Everyone's secrets are out. They both already know what I want, who I want. That's no secret."

"Now, Ms. Nelson, we wait for them to come after you. I'm sure Henry's almost figured it out by now. If not, then maybe you made the wrong choice. Anyways, when they get here, well. Lets leave that a surprise. Wouldn't want you spoiling any fun."

She kicked my foot. I yelped.

"Can you walk?"

I tried to stand, I really did, but I couldn't hardly move. I couldn't see much either, with my eyes swelling.

"Good." she said, a wicked smile playing on her lips.

She turned and left me there. I leaned back against the wall. I was sick of crying, sick of feeling sorry for myself. I didn't know where I was and neither did Henry or Mike. The only one who could get me out of this situation was me. If only I could figure out how to do that. There were no weapons around me and nothing I could really use for one either. First, I needed something to help me walk, like a stick or a shot of adrenaline. But the whole room was empty. Not even a bar on the door. Fine. I'd make myself walk without help. Using the wall to hold most of my weight, I pushed myself up. It felt good to finally have a goal, something to do. I almost blacked out from the pain. Gritting my teeth, I pushed through. All this work was making me sweat, but I couldn't sit around anymore.

"I have got to get out of this place!" I yelled, trying to motivate myself.

I stood, shaking, against the wall waiting for Daisy, or her minion, to come in and break my legs. She didn't. With the solid brick for support, I shuffled to the door. It was open. It opened noiselessly. No one was outside the door. The bouncer must have been the only one she reanimated. Not as powerful, or stupid, as Ivan had been. Now I was out of my cell, but had no way of knowing how to get out. This building was a maze. Movement was a little better now, but it still hurt like nothing else I'd ever experienced. Getting shot hadn't hurt like this. I heard heavy footsteps behind me.

"Bad choice," he said.

How was I supposed to fight this guy? He beat people up for a living! He swung, I ducked. I could hear the bones break as his fist hit the wall. Ducking as quickly as I had reminded me exactly how many ribs were broken. I took the next punch in the back. The adrenaline hadn't started rushing yet, though I was praying it would soon. He pulled me to my feet and shoved me against the wall.

"Please," I begged as his massive hands moved around my throat.

I kicked. Technically deceased or not, landing my kick where I did couldn't feel good. He doubled over, releasing me. Adrenaline finally started pulsing through my veins. I ran, though I didn't get very far before the pain was too much to handle. I found a room full of brooms and mops. Perfect. They weren't what I was used too, but they would work. I grabbed the two thickest handles I could find and removed the heads. At least now I had some means of defending myself. I tried to listen through the door to see if the bouncer had followed me. Nothing. Slowly, I made my way around this strange building. In a different time, under different circumstances, it might have been a beautiful place. But, since it had been my prison, I found it hideous.

I slowed my pace when I heard voices. Two. Male and female. Both I recognized. My captors.

"...failed me! I should have used someone with more brains! Go get her back. Don't kill her, but make sure she won't be able to walk. Do not bother me again if she outsmarts you for a second time."

Daisy sounded upset. She also sounded like she was trying to do something. Quietly, I moved around the corner. Daisy held blocks of C4 in her hands. How on earth did the secretary from a mortuary get a hold of C4?

"Outsmarting a deceased, heroin addict bouncer isn't something someone would normally put on a resume. But you, Ms. Nelson… It might actually help increase your business."

I stepped forward, gripping the sticks tightly.

"So much for not being able to walk. How's the adrenaline feeling in your system? Wearing out yet?"

"Just fine, Daisy. Thanks so much for asking."

Truth be told, my whole body hurt. I tried to keep myself from shaking. Daisy set down the explosives that were in her hands and walked over to me.

"You don't truly think you'll actually beat me in a fight, do you? Hiding from a man who was a heroin addict isn't really much of an accomplishment. I'll be a different story."

She walked toward me slowly. I gripped my makeshift weapons tightly, hoping to survive the battle I now faced.

Henry

The Back Room. That's what it had been called in the 1920's. It was in New York. I needed to get there quickly. I didn't know how much time Vicky had left. I paced around the apartment, Mike sitting with Coreen who was typing away wildly on her laptop.

"Henry. You need to see this." she said suddenly.

I moved quickly to the couch and sat between Coreen and Mike. He didn't look pleased, but with the amount of alcohol making its way through his system, I wasn't surprised.

"I noticed something strange in that link Daisy sent us when she first gave us the live feed of Vicky. There's interference. There are more cameras. I think I found one."

I leaned forward anxiously. A new image popped up on the screen, black and white.

"There's audio, but I can't hear much besides her breathing. It sounds labored," Mike said, leaning in as well.

His close proximity would normally have bothered me, but I had other things on my mind. I could hear everything perfectly. I didn't really want to repeat what she said.

"Henry. Henry, please. I just want to come home. Please find me."

I couldn't wait any more. This had to end. I knew where she was, I could get there quickly. I needed to leave.

"Henry," Mike started, standing. "You know where she is."

It wasn't a question.

"I'm going to go bring her back."

"Let's go. Where is she?"

"Across the boarder. You can't come. You'll only slow me down."

He looked like he wanted to argue with me, but he knew it wouldn't work. And he didn't really want to see Vicky. Well, he did, but not if I was going to be there too. It would be too much for both of them. I had to act quickly if I wanted to make it to the building in time. I left without answering Coreen's questions. Taking back roads, I was able to drive significantly faster than the average person. I was determined to get to New York before the sun rose. Both of our lives now depended on it.

Finally, the boarder drew near. I parked my car where I knew it wouldn't be found. Taking a deep breath, I ran. Miles passed beneath my feet as I came closer to her. I could hear the humming. I let it guide me. I slowed down as it grew strong enough to feel. She had to be close. I hadn't run like that for that long ever. I was exhausted. I needed to feed before I found Vicky. If I had to fight both Daisy and the bouncer, I wouldn't be able to help anyone. A noise from a tree to my left told me there was a raccoon in it. At least it was better than a rat or a dog. I ate quickly, time working against me. Listening for the beautiful sound of Vicky's blood calling to me, I ran. It didn't take that much longer to reach where the building had stood. I walked carefully, unsure of what awaited me. I heard noises. The entrance to the speakeasy was hidden from my eyes. Even with my perfect memory, it was difficult to find. But I did find it. I could hear her voice, not just her blood. The sound, as it came to my ears, gave me hope. There was yelling. And something sounded like it broke. Labored breathing. I moved quickly, aware that Vicky was injured already. I came around to see Vicky on the floor, bleeding. Her face was swollen, lip split, body clearly broken. I turned to see Daisy, obviously surprised by my sudden entrance.

"Please," Vicky whispered. "Please, just let me go."

I saw the detonator in Daisy's hand. Before she could manage to blow us all up, I had my hand around her neck.

"I told you," I growled as I felt my nature take over. "You made a grave mistake by taking her from my home."

She tried to yell, probably for the bouncer, but she was unsuccessful. Her blood filled my mouth and trickled down my throat. The sweet scent of death swiftly approached as I drained the life from her body. I wiped my mouth before approaching Vicky. She knew what I was, but I didn't want to come up to her covered in blood.

"Vicky? Vicky, it's Henry. Can you hear me?" I held her head gently in my hands bringing it up to see me.

"Henry?" she asked quietly.

She looked horrible. Bruises and cuts covered her body and face. It was a good thing that Daisy was already dead. If she hadn't been, I would have killed her again.

"Where's Daisy? What happened?"

I brushed the hair from her face as gently as I could.

"I took care of it. Are you alright?"

Her breathing was wheezy. She probably had some serious internal damage from the beating she'd been taking the last two days.

"Broken ribs, I think. The rest is," she took a sharp intake of breath as I picked her up. "Just hurts."

I carried her farther back into the building I knew she was desperate to escape. But sunlight was coming quickly and I would have no way to get either of us somewhere safe until later.

"Henry, take me home."

"I can't, Vick. It took me all night to find you, I can't get both of us back before the sun comes up. I'm sorry. But we both need to rest."

She didn't really seem to mind too much. We didn't travel that far into the building. I didn't want to waste time getting back out once the sun went down again. Finding something with no windows or access to sunlight was not a difficult task. I set her down as carefully as I could before collapsing next to her. She was asleep first, and I did not take long to follow.

Mike

Coreen and I were left in Henry Fitzroy's apartment in an awkward silence.

"So, he's gone to bring her back?"

"Yea. Looks like." I said, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice.

What did I have to be disappointed about? I already knew she didn't want me. She'd already picked him. I got up to leave the apartment. I wouldn't want to be here when they got back. That would be an awkward situation that wouldn't do anyone any good. Kate had already put in a transfer request, so I would probably never see her again. I should have gone back to the bar and drank myself to death. There was no happy ending for me here. Maybe I could find some way to get away. I didn't want to be here. In a few weeks, when Vicky got better, she'd be back doing her private investigating again, asking me for favors. I couldn't take that.

Instead of going to the bar, again, I went down to the station. I tried to finish up some paperwork. That ate up a big chunk of time.

"Celluci." someone called.

I looked up from my computer screen.

"What?"

"We're putting together a task force, a deep cover operation," said Dusty Hall, head of our guns and gangs division.

"Yeah? What of it?"

"You want in?"

He sat down on the corner of my desk. Deep cover. That could be the break I was looking for.

"I heard about what happened with you and Kate," he spoke when I didn't answer.

"This might be the perfect thing for you. It'll give you a chance to get away and work through whatever crap you've got."

The more he said, the better it sounded.

"Yeah. I'm in. How long?"

He proceeded to give me the details of the assignment and have me tie up anything that needed to be taken care of. He promised that my house would be looked after while I was under. This wasn't a matter of months, but of years. This is exactly the kind of escape I was looking for. I stared around my living room, late that afternoon, for the last time. As the sun went down, I gave Vicky a silent goodbye.

Henry

When I woke, I thought for a moment's that Vicky had stopped breathing while we slept. Then she stirred beside me. Watching her sleep was something I would never tire of. Even as bruised and bloody as she was, she was beautiful. I hadn't felt this way about a woman since... Lets suffice it to say it's been a long time. My mind wandered, as the final deadly rays of the sun went down, to the future. I pulled myself away from it. I couldn't think that far ahead. Right now, all that mattered was she was safely sleeping in my arms. So what if my shirt was ruined? She was alive.

"Henry. You're making a habit of staring at me."

I smiled at her. She tried to sit up, but her broken bones wouldn't allow her. Her arm was swollen and bruised, probably a broken wrist.

"I didn't think you'd mind."

She smiled.

"I can't move you like this. I risk making your injuries worse."

She moved a little and cried out.

"I can help you. If you want."

"What do you have to do?" she looked up at me through swollen eyelids.

"I can give you some of my blood. It'll heal you right up, good as new."

"Downside?"

I sighed.

"If you die in the next twenty four hours, you'll become a vampire."

"So nothing that catastrophic then. Do it. I can't move like this."

"Are you absolutely certain?" I asked, looking deep into her eyes.

She nodded.

I bit my wrist, wincing at the sensation. My own blood tasted sweet to me, unlike the blood I'd just consumed.

"Wait," she said.

I looked down at her.

"Would this be Daisy's blood?"

I smiled.

"In a manner of speaking. Do you want it or not?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

I waited until I saw the deep crimson come up from my flesh. I brought my wrist to her lips. It was strange, watching her drink my blood. At first, she gagged at it, the taste repulsive to her. She fought against it and consumed enough to heal her. I waited wile my blood worked through her system. I knew she could feel it, but I could hear the bones realigning inside her body. I heard them snap back into place. She cried out, tears escaping her eyes.

"I'm sorry. This was the best I could do."

"I know." she mumbled through gritted teeth.

Several minutes later, most of the healing was done. She sat up and looked at me.

"Thank you for saving me."

"Anytime."

She reached up and kissed me. The sensation was beautiful. The song of her blood roared to life in my ears, a divine sound. I ran my hands through her soft hair as she sat up a little more. I pulled away briefly.

"It's going to take me all night to get us back. We should leave soon."

"Just one more minute." she said, pulling my lips back to hers.

I couldn't complain. Having her here, with me, was all I could ask for. A thump outside the room caught our attention. That familiar, sweet stench of decay again reached me. That was getting annoying.

"Henry? Since you killed the necromancer, what happens to the body she was reanimating?"

"My guess? Goes back to being dead."

We stood and slid the door open. The bouncer was on the ground, unmoving. Now that we were up, it was much easier to get going.

Running while carrying her wasn't an easy task, and it took me most of the night just to reach my car. Once I did, the drive back to my apartment wasn't a bad one. She slept most of the way, which was fine. We'd have plenty of time to be together later. I woke her softly when I'd parked underground.

"We're home."

She smiled and stretched, looking around.

"Who's home?"

I smiled back.

"Ours."

She looked as surprised as I felt. Something about it, though, just felt right.

"Ours? Are you asking me to move in with you?"

Yes.

"Well, I just thought that we've now spent two nights together, and we've saved each other's lives multiple times, it just fit."

"I think," she said as she got out of the car. "That I'll have to pick my things up tomorrow."

I raised my eyebrows, following her up to my - no our - apartment.

"Tomorrow?"

She flashed me a coy smile.

"I've got other plans tonight. Near death experiences and all that."

If she was saying what I think she was saying, I might need to grab a bite to eat first. She read the hesitation in my face.

"It's not that. I just need a quick... Snack."

Holding out her hand, she smiled again.

"Then I'll be waiting."

I handed her the key to the door and turned away quickly.

"Henry," she said.

I was back before she'd finished speaking.

"Hurry back," she said, ending with a hungry kiss.

It took all of the power I had to pull away and go find someone to snack on. I found someone passed out behind a bar not far from the apartment. The song in my head never dimmed as I'd left her. If anything, it'd grown stronger. When I'd taken enough to keep myself in check, I hurried back to her. She was sitting on the couch, waiting. I started to approach her and then turned away. I washed my mouth out a few times before turning back to her.

"Thanks," she said.

I couldn't reply. The smell, the taste, the feel of her was almost overwhelming. She was just as hungry, just as desperate, as I was. Never releasing our kiss, I picked her up and carried her to our bedroom.

And the rest, as they say, is history.