Aaron's Muse
Chapter 1
Summary: AU. A deadly menace is stalking the entire West coast; when a member of the MC team becomes the next victim, Jim and Blair take it personal...leading them into a world of nightmare and myth. Crossover with Forever Knight and the Role Playing Game, Vampire, the Masquerade. Rated R for very strong language and violence.
Notes: The vampire characters of Brandon, Aaron, Cassie and Heinrich are original characters created (over 20 years ago) for play in the RPG "Vampire: The Masquerade". Nick Knight is the vampire/detective from the show Forever Knight. You don't need to be familiar with the RPG to understand the story, but you do have to be familiar with Forever Knight and the vampire genre in general to understand some of the references. I've provided some definitions from the RPG at the end of the story. For anyone who *might* be familiar with the White Wolf system, YES, I 'bent' some rules a little to fit into my story parameters! Alyssa and Loden are from the RPG module-Chicago by Night.
Note 2: this story was originally started on this site under the penname…adsh…and downloaded in its entirety at the "Cascade Library". I'm trying to get all my stories in one place so I am gathering them up, dusting them off, editing heavily (cause this poor thing was in pathetic shape) & getting them all under one account.
/The Sentinel/
SIMON BANK'S OFFICE
"So far, the 'only' thing that connects the two victim's together, in any way, is the club over on Eighth Street, called the Underground. Now the first victim, Andy Chapman, got a job about a month ago as lead guitarist in the band that is currently playing there, called...'Aaron's Muse'. The lead singer is a Cassandra La Fay. Seems to be her band," Detective James Ellison reported to his Captain, as he tossed out a few black and white publicity photos of a pale young woman.
"Has the first victim, Chapman, remembered anything about his abductor, why or where he was taken, or how he escaped?" Captain Bank's asked, reaching for the photos.
"Nothing. He could only remember being approached at closing time by a shadowy figure, being engulfed in what he described as an overwhelming feeling of euphoria…then a white hot pain. The next thing he remembers is coming to in the hospital, with no visible wounds, but with *very serious* blood loss and absolutely no memories of the four days he was missing. He was found last week, near sun up, wandering aimlessly in the park," Jim answered grimly.
"So all we have to go on is these men's taste in music?" Simon commented, looking over the photos. The young woman appeared to be in her late twenties, with wild, auburn hair and full, red lips; and her dark, piercing eyes seemed to bore straight through you. "What do we have on this singer, Aaron's Muse..?"
Sitting quietly up to this point, Sandburg piped in enthusiastically, "She was the lead singer in an alternative rock band called 'Serenade'; they had quite a few hits and even a few albums but never toured much. Stayed pretty much in the Chicago area, in a bar called The Torch. Then, about two years ago, they all suddenly dropped out of sight, completely. Not even their manager could be found. Cassie...uh, rather, Aaron's Muse, now; resurfaced about a year ago, alone, playing in small clubs up and down the West Coast."
Simon arched an eyebrow at Sandburg's breathless monologue, "And you would know all this because…?"
"I have all her albums and even saw her and her band once when I was in Chicago," Sandburg replied enthusiastically.
"Since we didn't have any leads with the victim's themselves and the club owner checks out I played a hunch and spent the morning cross checking Ms. La Fays' tour schedule with missing persons reports and murders while she was in each city," Jim said, taking back control of the conversation from his excitable partner as he skimmed one of the police files. "Seems that trouble follows this young lady everywhere she goes. All in all, over the last ten months, and including the latest two instances, seven young men have disappeared and reappeared under similar mysterious circumstances and five others have been found murdered. In all thirteen instances the victims had either been band members or were seen at the club where the band played. I've requested copies of the investigator's reports; should be getting replies late this afternoon or tomorrow."
"Could this be a jealous ex-band member trying to thwart her comeback for being left out of the loop?" Simon suggested, "Or even some over-zealous fan trying to get her attention?"
"It's one hell of a way to get attention; killing and kidnapping people," Jim said, shaking his head.
"I agree with Jim, I mean, these people may not your normal mainstream music fans, but murder…kidnapping, I don't buy it," Blair explained while pacing around the room. "And as far as a comeback goes, she doesn't appear to be actively seeking one; she only plays small clubs. It's even been rumored that she's turned down touring offers and a few record deals, but, she won't sing anything but the songs from her old band. That doesn't seem like someone who is interested in a solo career. The band members themselves would share equally in album royalties, and all the members had big enough fan followings to go solo."
"Where do you get this stuff Sandburg?" Simon sighed.
"Internet. Everything is on the Internet," Blair grinned. "As a matter of fact, I pulled this up and copied it. It's a picture of her original band."
Simon took the offered photo and gave it a quick look before passing it to Jim, who studied the picture intently for a moment, before grabbing up both victim files, "We may just have found a connection between our victims and this singer."
Jim laid out the pictures of the two victims on the table and put the picture of the band beside them.
"Look at victim one, Chapman," Jim directed, pointing to a picture of a curly haired, red head then pointing to the band picture, "Now look at this band member…"
"Quite a similarity there," Simon mused.
"That band member is Aaron, he was their primary songwriter. He called Cassie his muse and wouldn't write for anyone but her and rumor had it he would become very upset if she sang any song he didn't write," Blair explained.
"Now she calls herself Aaron's Muse, maybe they had a falling out," Simon said with a shrug, "maybe he's the one stalking her; trying to get her attention, has new material for her to record?"
"But that wouldn't make sense, Captain," Blair countered. "Why would she call herself Aaron's Muse if she wasn't willing to sing his new stuff, too?"
"And that might be an explanation if all the victims bore a similarity only to Aaron; but, look at this band member, who does he remind you of?" Jim said grimly, pointing to a young, dark-haired, clean shaven man holding a guitar.
Simon looked at the picture then at Jim, eyebrows raised, "Damn."
"That was Cassie's boyfriend, Brandon," Blair supplied.
"Was there ever any 'tension' between the boyfriend and the songwriter for her attentions?" Simon asked, peering over at Sandburg.
"Haven't seen anything on any of the fan sites to indicate that there was, but I can check around some more," Blair replied.
"When we get the files we can cross check the victims with this band picture…" Jim started.
"Jim; that is an awfully thin lead. Kidnapping, killing…because they look like band members," Simon interrupted.
"It's all we've got, Simon; we are at a dead end here," Jim shot back. "I've come up with nothing on this one so far."
"Has this singer ever been questioned in any of this?" Simon asked.
"Several times, but only briefly. She never stays in town long enough for a thorough investigation and there has never been any real evidence to link her to anything, so they haven't had cause to detain her," Jim reported, scanning the report in his hand. "We're having problems tracking her down for questioning. We tried at the club this morning but it was locked up tight so we'll try again this evening."
A knock at the door halted their conversation as Rhonda popped her head in, "Captain, Henri called. Brian is conscious now."
"Thank god. How is he?" Simon asked.
"Henri said he's a bit dazed and very confused at the moment, but the doctor said he should make a full recovery," Rhonda reported.
"Let's get over there and talk to him. Maybe he can give us something," Simon directed, grabbing for his coat.
Jim nodded, turning to gather up the pictures scattered across the conference table. His features grim, as he placed the latest victim's picture…one, Detective Brian Rafe, on the top of the stack, before closing the file.
TBC-