Chapter 7
"Who did you lose?" Wilson asked as he pulled his car into the hotel parking lot.
Kate spun her stake in her hands, watching the path of the rings in the wood as it grazed her fingers. She smiled sadly. "My dad. How did you know?"
He smiled back in the same sad way, that Wilson way. "Those that have lost can see it in others. You saw it in me too, didn't you?"
She got out of the car and nodded. "I just figured it was because I was a cop. That sixth sense, you know?" Heading for the entrance, she asked, "So who was it?"
His lips formed a straight line. She thought he probably still felt guilty. Like she did. He looked at her with those deep brown eyes. "My brother."
Kate tucked her stake in the small messenger bag hanging at her hip. She didn't want anyone in the lobby to see it and report it. "How'd you deal?"
Wilson took long strides over the marble floor. He was anxious to get to his room before someone noticed that his suit was ripped and a little bloody. Besides, the blonde he was with was going to turn heads. "I became a doctor. And I hunt at night. I couldn't save my brother, but I wanted to save as many people as I could. Those that I had power to save."
He didn't ask Kate how she handled it but she instinctively knew that he wanted to know. Likewise, Wilson knew he didn't have to ask. As they got into the elevator, she offered, "I almost let it ruin me. I hated myself and I hated Angel for it—even though I knew it wasn't his fault."
"It's not your fault either." Wilson looked down at her before they got out of the elevator.
Her blue eyes looked up at him but didn't respond. She kept going, saying, "I tried…I, uh, took too many pills. Angel saved me. The next week, I moved here."
Wilson rubbed the back of his neck, but not because it hurt. It was his boyish attempt to gather more information. "So, did you and Angel…"
She chuckled. Wilson loved the noise. He rightfully assumed that it didn't happen often.
"No, we never were together. We've always just been good friends." Kate decided not to tell him that she was once in love with Angel. That didn't fade away until months after she moved to New Jersey. She knew him now as her savior, her second chance, her friend. But nothing else.
They finally stood in front of Wilson's door. He chuckled, too.
"What?" she asked, surprised to hear the sound.
"When I started out tonight, I never thought I'd be taking a beautiful woman up here to retrieve ancient prophecies."
She tried not to gasp. It had been a long while since anyone had said something that charming to her. The intensity of impending doom only added to the tension.
He opened the door and let her go through. Their smiles fell as they looked about the room.
It had been trashed.
He raced to the room safe. Looking up at Kate, he said, "It's open. And the prophecies are gone."
……………………………………
"Are you okay?" Angel was kneeling by the couch with a cup of tea.
Cameron sat up and took it from him, sighing. "I've honestly been better." Then she glanced over at House as he headed for his bedroom and began recalling moments from the last couple years. "But I guess I've been worse, too."
He smiled. She was handling this well. He liked women that could handle themselves in a tough spot. It was a necessity in his world. She wasn't blonde, though…
"Can you explain all of this to me again? I'm still hazy." Cameron looked at him with those big green eyes, stirring him from his own thoughts.
He leaned over closer to her, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands together in Angel's "let's talk sensitively" stance. His hands were so close to Cameron that she could have touched him if she moved. "We don't know a lot yet," he said. "But the vampire that took you is called Drusilla. She's insane and evil. She can also see the future and she apparently sees that you are important in something big coming. My guess is an apocalypse."
Cuddy came in from the kitchen with a cup of coffee. "An apocalypse? I haven't been to synagogue for a while, but I was under the impression that there's only one."
"Well, then you'd be wrong, sister," Faith said. "There were two just a few years back in California and Angel, Keen, and I stopped one last week in Cleveland."
"Is she serious?" Cameron asked. She needed another sip of her tea. Her throat felt suddenly dry. Three hours ago, she didn't even believe in apocalypses.
"Afraid so," Keen said. He was still researching on his computer. He looked over at Cameron, asking, "Have you ever met anyone that's asked you to drink the sweat of a virgin priestess?" When Cameron shook her head, he refocused himself on the laptop. "I guess we can scratch off all of the moon-associated feminist cults."
"I think I'm still drunk." Cuddy plopped down on the piano bench, her coffee sloshing in its cup. Lisa Cuddy had always been one to believe in the unbelievable, the impossible, but this was too much too fast.
……………………………………………
House was lying on his bed. More like sulking on his bed. He was used to leading, taking charge. The doctor was not comfortable giving that up to anyone, especially a handsome stranger with hair that a blind person could have styled better.
He also didn't know what to think about Wilson.
When the hell did all of this happen? House didn't pride himself on much, but he was certain he knew everything to know about his friends and coworkers. He knew Cuddy's menstrual cycle; he knew when Wilson was about to cheat again; he knew when Foreman would break off a relationship. So how did he not know that Wilson killed vampires, that he even knew about vampires? What else had House been wrong about?
He couldn't stand being in bed anymore. Restless and bored, he stood up and began pacing about the room. Slipping Vicodin out of his pocket, he shook the bottle, popped the lid, and swallowed two dry. Annoyingly, his gut twitched—but not literally. He wasn't hungry. He was being intuitive again. Something told him to go to the window. Damn, what happened to reason and facts?
Too curious not to check it out, he grabbed his cane that was hanging from the foot of the bed and headed down the hall. He walked straight past the group invading his apartment and pushed back the curtain.
"What is it, House?" Cuddy asked.
"Chase."
Faith bounded towards the door. "Someone's getting chased?"
"No, you hyper-active hormone fest." He tilted his head inquisitively at her. "You're a sex kitten aren't you?"
She had a hint of a smile. "You have no idea. And I'm betting you know how to use that cane."
"There's a reason why I get more privileges than just a parking space."
Faith stepped closer to him, her curly brown hair swaying past her shoulders. "If we get out of this alive, I'll give you a real damn reason to limp. But until then, you better start playing ball because I'm getting tired of making you respond."
House looked past her head and over at Cuddy. "Well, who would have thought there's someone out there that's an even bigger ball-buster than you?" He leaned on his cane and whispered, "Don't worry though. No one will ever beat you out on bustiness."
"House, just tell the woman what you saw." Cuddy wasn't about to admit that this was the most excitement she had had for five years.
He sighed. "Chase is sitting like a puppy dog across the street. I've been telling you for months that the little wombat is in love with me. I wonder why no one believes me."
Angel finally stepped away from Cameron. "Get rid of him. No one else needs to get involved here. It's too dangerous."
"I don't want to do it," House whined. "Were you not listening when I said he's obsessing over me? Does deafness come with those fangs?"
"You are going to need a wheelchair instead of that damn cane."
Cuddy bounced up from her seat. "I'll do it before you start comparing…comparables."
She went outside and jogged across the street. "Dr. Chase? What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"
Chase stood up, blushing. Without being able to control his words, he said, "When I see you, everything is beautiful."
Her jaw dropped and she backed away from him. "What?"
He came closer to her and grabbed her hands in his. "I mean that the touch of any other woman pales in comparison to simply a smile from your lips."
"Oh, hell." With his hand still attached to hers, she guided him across the street. She led him into House's apartment. They looked at her, alarmed that she had done exactly the opposite of what she was supposed to. "We have a problem," she told them.
Angel's cell phone rang in his jacket pocket. Flipping it open, he saw that it was Kate and said, "Did you get it?" He listened on the other line for a few minutes then said, "Get back here as soon as possible."
He shut the phone and looked at the group. "We've got a lot of problems."
TBC
