Daniel had told him they couldn't patrol that night, that he had other commitments. It was their best chance to close in on Big Figure and Daniel thought it trivial enough to simply put off. There was little Rorschach could do, not alone and without Archie, so he kicked in Daniel's door sometime after midnight to offer him news and demand food. The house was silent, perhaps Daniel's commitment was elsewhere.
Rorschach ate, dropping the empty cans onto the table so that tomato sauce and tuna brine dripped onto the table. Daniel should have been there. He checked upstairs almost as an afterthought, but the shape of Daniel's body under the blanket was clear. Either his commitment was done or he'd blown off patrol to catch up on some sleep. Rorschach shook his shoulder roughly, but Daniel moved limply with his grip. Rorschach pulled off one glove to check his pulse and found none. His skin was cold.
Rorschach stood with his fingers pressed to Daniel's neck for what felt like an eternity, willing a pulse to flutter under his fingers. Had Daniel died alone up here while he ate? It seemed too much, too sudden, to even begin to understand. The inhuman cry of a screech owl, a sound Daniel had taught him to recognise, rang out loud around him. The owl perched in the open window, watching him with eyes like coins. Its hooked beak and the feathers of its chest were drenched in blood. Something was terribly wrong about it, too much intelligence lurked in those wide eyes. Its head was deformed, the shape almost more human than owl like. It flew into the room fearlessly and perched on Daniel's still chest.
When it bent to push its head into Daniel's mouth Rorschach's frozen body shattered. With a cry almost as inhuman as the owl's own he lashed out at it with his hands. It dodged and shrieked at him, and he screamed back wordless pain and grief. Daniel was dead, his body should not be desecrated as well. Finally the owl settled on the window sill, still regarding him with those unsettling eyes. It clicked its beak before opening it again.
'Calm down,' it said in Daniel's voice.
Rorschach backed against the wall shaking his head wildly, whatever this demon was it would not fool him. 'Stay away,' he croaked at it. The owl sighed.
'It's me,' said the owl. 'If it wasn't I would have killed you by now. I'm much stronger when I don't wear a human body. But I need to return to it before dawn.'
'Who - what are you?' asked Rorschach.
'In the time of Caesar I was called Strix Noctis,' said the owl.
'Night Owl,' translated Rorschach.
Something that might have been a smile quirked around the ends of the owl's beak. 'It was interesting to reclaim that name in the modern age,' it said. 'More interesting to join forces with you. It has been a very long time since I had a friend.'
The loneliness in its voice was real, Rorschach was certain of it, and he stepped away from the wall without thinking. It was Daniel, he believed it, but he didn't understand. 'What are you?'
'You would probably call me a vampire. I do my best to live as a man, but every twenty-five years I have to feed.' Rorschach stared at the blood on its feathers, understanding far more than he liked. 'They were child molesters,' said Daniel. 'I would rather have stayed within the law and turned them in to the police. But I don't think their lives were worth more than mine.'
Daniel was the first friend Rorschach had ever had. He was kind, he shared his food and home. He protected the innocent nightly by Rorschach's side. A good man. 'Neither do I,' he whispered. He stood aside from Daniel's body, and when the owl perched on it he only watched.
The owl pushed its head inside Daniel's mouth, his lips stretching horribly around its shoulders, and slowly pushed its way it. Daniel's face distorted to let it, the shape of it distended his throat before moving into his ribcage. Daniel sighed out a breath and sat up.
Daniel blinked at Rorschach, short sighted without his glasses, and offered a dazed smile. The owl seemed like a dream, an illusion, and Rorschach wasn't sure what to say.
'Hey, buddy,' said Daniel, fumbling on the bedside table for his glasses. 'Did patrol go okay? Sorry I wasn't feeling up to it.'
'It's okay,' said Rorschach. He stepped away from the bed to let Daniel get up. And saw the owl feathers lying at the foot of the bed. He scooped them up as Daniel made his way to the bedroom door. 'Strix Noctis,' he said, and Daniel froze. Brown eyes behind glasses suddenly gazed with the same cold intelligence as wide golden ones.
'I prefer Daniel,' he said.
'Daniel,' said Rorschach, nodding. 'Will need your help tomorrow night.'
The coldness of Daniel's true nature faded and was replaced by warm gratitude. 'Of course,' he said, smiling. 'Tomorrow the Nite Owl Rorschach team will be back on track.'