Echoes And Angels
A Witchblade fanfiction by Talismaniactress
(many thanks to my kind and talented beta-reader Kassiel, and to Trider for title inspiration)
Chapter Nine: Connections (part 1)
By six o' clock that evening, Sara, Danny, and Jake had compiled a record of over one hundred and twenty cases identical to Carlais Korskie's. The three of them were holed up in Sara and Danny's office, every available surface covered with papers and file folders.
"We've got at least one from every state except Hawaii," Danny announced as he shifted a few files around on a desk already stacked high with papers. "Although we still haven't heard back from Alaska or Kentucky."
"So what do we do now?" asked Jake.
"Now," Sara replied, "you guys get reading while I head over to Gabriel's and see if he can tell us anything about this. If it goes back as far as these files imply, he might know something about it."
Danny and Jake nodded. While both, like Sara, considered Gabriel little more than a child, they acknowledged and respected his professional skills and his willingness to help them out when they needed it. And boy, do we ever need it… thought Danny.
Sara stood up, gave Danny a smile and Jake an encouraging slap on the back as she grabbed her helmet and keys and left. The rush of cold air as she steered her Buell through the streets refreshed her and helped her clear her aching head. One hundred and twenty-four identical murders spread out not only over the country but over the century… and best of all, not a single witness to any of them. Not one. Dimly Sara wondered what the odds were against that.
It was ten to seven when Sara parked her bike in front of the Talismaniac and entered the shop. She didn't see Gabriel at first; he wasn't at his usual post behind the counter.
"Gabriel?" she called tentatively. Getting no answer, she crossed the shop and gently pushed open the door to the back room. "Gabri—" she began, and stopped. Gabriel was there all right – in the middle of an obviously passionate kiss with a blonde girl Sara had never seen before.
For one instant, Sara felt a fleeting pang of jealousy. Not that she wanted to kiss Gabriel, of course – they were friends, that was all. But the idea that he had a girlfriend he hadn't even mentioned to her… that hurt more than she was willing to admit, even to herself. She dismissed the feeling, reminding herself that she could hardly expect Gabriel to tell her everything about his private life.
"Ahem," she said loudly.
Gabriel jumped, and grinned guiltily when he caught sight of Sara in the doorway. "Hey," he said.
The girl didn't seem at all surprised to see Sara there, and smiled a greeting, which Sara returned. "Hey," she said in answer to Gabriel.
Sara stood aside to let them come back into the main shop. "So who's your friend, Gabriel?" she asked, breaking the awkward silence.
Gabriel shot the girl a brilliant smile and settled against the counter with his arm around her waist. "This," he said to Sara, "is Lyanka Ladaei. She owns that ring you found."
Sara's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really?" she said.
"Yep," Gabriel nodded.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Lyanka said, extending a hand.
Sara shook it – and then froze, horrified, as she watched the girl draw the dagger at her hip and drive it into Gabriel's chest. Oblivious, Gabriel continued to smile amiably as he sank to the floor, eyes blank and glazed. Blood poured from the wound, soaking his shirt and the surrounding carpet. He was very dead. Sara felt a scream rising in her throat as she stared at the woman who had just murdered her friend.
"Sara?"
Sara blinked, and realized she was still holding Lyanka's hand. She dropped it quickly, feeling sick. What had that been all about?!
"Sara, are you all right?" It was Gabriel, and it was obviously not the first time he'd asked the question.
"I'm… I'm fine," she stammered. Gabriel's expression told Sara he suspected she'd had a vision; Lyanka was staring openly. "I'm fine," Sara repeated again, giving herself a small shake.
"Okay…" said Gabriel, looking rather skeptical.
"Anyway," Sara said, changing the subject quickly before Gabriel could ask what she'd seen, "I was wondering if you could help me out with this case."
"What do you need?" Gabriel asked, immediately all business.
"A connection," Sara sighed. "The body of Carlais Korskie was found in Central Park last Thursday. Although there were no marks anywhere on the body, the corpse had been drained of every last drop of blood. Aside from that, no clues whatsoever; no fingerprints, no footprints, no witnesses. When we got back to the precinct, I had Danny and Jake look for any other files that might be similar – didn't expect to find any, but it's standard procedure to look. D'you wanna know how many identical cases we found?"
"How many?"
"One hundred and twenty-four, Gabriel. One hundred and twenty-four. And not only are they located everywhere across the country – they go all the way back to 1899! And it's always the same deal: bloodless bodies, no clues, and no witnesses. None of these crimes have ever been solved. So please, Gabriel… please tell me you know something about this."
Gabriel grinned at her and sat down at his computer. "You're in luck. I do."
Sighing with relief, Sara sank down into a nearby chair. "What can you tell me?"
"It's a rare phenomenon called exsanguination which in ancient times was attributed to vampires, due to the fact that it was usually indicated by extreme blood loss and one or two puncture wounds on the neck or thigh." As he spoke, Gabriel pulled up photographs on his computer screen to demonstrate what he was referring to. "However, there have been a few documented cases in which no puncture wounds could be found anywhere on the body. Science has yet to explain these," he said pointedly. "The first documented cases began as early as 600 A.D. and they've been recorded worldwide; this thing isn't limited to the U.S. Incidents of exsanguination were generally presumed to be murders, although no evidence could ever be found to either support or disprove that theory. There are very few instances of anyone being arrested for or convicted of murder by exsanguination."
Sara stared at him. "Wait, so basically what you're telling me is that I have absolutely no chance of catching whoever's responsible?"
"Probably not," Gabriel admitted.
"That's ridiculous! I've never given up on a case in my life, why the hell would I start now?!" Forgetting that there was someone else in the room, Sara brandished the Witchblade. "Besides, how many of THEM had this thing helping them?"
Gabriel shot her a warning look but not in time – Lyanka saw the bracelet and exclaimed, "Oh! You wear the Witch's Glove!"
There was dead silence as both Gabriel and Sara turned to gape at her.
