COLD CASE - Chapter 9

"They're all infected with spirits from the Never-Never," Bob said quietly. "Spirits that are created from human dreams, fears, myths, and desires. I'm pretty sure that's also what Skorzeny was. Some wizards call them Archetypes."

I slowly sat up in my bed. "Archetypes?" I asked thoughtfully. "Archetypes of what?"

"In Skorzeny's case, the Archetype of the Vampire. Oh, I don't mean the real vampires of the various Courts. I mean the vampires of popular human myth. Myths that in this era are primarily based on the Hollywood version of Bram Stoker."

"How is that possible?" I asked.

Bob sighed. "Look, Harry, there's something like seven billion people in the world, right?"

"Right," I said as I nodded - and immediately winced in pain. Nodding was not a good idea.

"And only a few of them have magical talent, right?"

"Right," I repeated - wondering where the hell Bob was going with this.

"Wrong. All of them have magical talent, Harry. Every damn human being on the planet. It just happens to be a very minor amount of talent in most cases. So minor that Wizards and Fey and Vampires and all the rest tend to forget that it's there. But let me repeat: there are seven-freaking-billion people on this Earth and every one of them has some level of magical talent."

A chill suddenly went down my spine. "That's... something to think about," I said.

"Think harder," Bob ordered. "And feel free to get nervous. Now - how many human beings know that vampires have fangs, drink blood, sleep in coffins, can only go out at night, are incredibly strong, live forever, and are vulnerable to sunlight, garlic, and crosses?"

I thought about that. "A lot of people. But they don't all actually think vampires are real."

"Reality isn't the issue. What matters is what people imagine. And I'm willing to say that most of the seven billion people on Earth imagine that vampires - whether they exist or not - should look a lot like Janos Skorzeny. If you consider that multi-billion person belief in terms of psychic energy, where does that energy go?"

"Into the Never-Never," I said quietly.

"Where the energy forms into spirits that reflect the beliefs on which they are based," Bob continued.

"And every now and then one of those spirits come back Earth," I whispered. "And that's how we ended up with a vampire that was more like Bella Lagosi than Mavra or Ortega."

"Bingo! Mystery solved! Now, how about we check out the Pink Fox Theater? It's just two miles down the road and it got five stars from 'International Strip Club Review'."

"Hold up," I said dryly. "What about Sykes, his wife, and Forbes?"

"Archetype possession can be infectous. Didn't I say that before?"

"You did use the word 'infected'," I said after a long pause.

"Right. Try to keep up, Harry."

"Archetypes can infect people with... with... Archetypism?!"

"I don't know if 'Archetypism' is a word, but I'm willing to go along with what I think you're trying to say. Yes, close contact with an Archetype may result in another such spirit manifesting itself into the contactee. I think Sykes and Forbes were infected by contact with the patient zero of this particular outbreak. You may have heard of him. He was a fellow named Janos Skorzeny. I don't know how or when Sykes' wife turned Archetype. She might have been created off of Sykes. Or she might be a victim of Skorzeny's that was never discovered."

"They're all Skorzeny-like vampires?!"

"No. Or, at least, not all of them. Okay, I'm guessing here, but Sykes is probably an Archetype of the movie super-cop. He's Arnold on steroids, cleaning up the streets his way, avenging his dead partner, while being a pain to his by-the-book superiors. However, he's too good of a cop to fire, so he keeps his job. I'm sure you've seen that movie. Hollywood makes it five or ten times a year."

I thought that over, "You know, that doesn't sound like it's inevitably a bad thing."

"Maybe. It's possible for an Archetype to be beneficial. But what if Sykes is filling the desert around Vegas with the shallow graves of the criminals he's killed?"

"You think he's doing that?"

"I don't know, but you should consider the possibility. Archetypes have a strong predatory streak. And action-movie cops generally have a big bodycount."

"What about Forbes?" I asked.

"This is another guess, but she's probably a serial killer. All the warning signs are there and I imagine it cuts down on the food bill for her dogs. That's an Archetype that seems to be becoming more common with time."

I grimaced. "And Sykes' wife?"

"Well... the complete lack of an aura indicates she's a shape-shifter. And a powerful one. If any of those three is a Skorzeny knock-off, it's her."

"Can we help them?"

"How do you help Jeffrey Dahmer? Or Jack the Ripper? Or Pol Pot?"

"They were Archetypes?"

"Your uncle thought so. The harmless-looking cannibal next door, a woman-slaughtering knife in the dark, and a bargain basement mini-Hitler. All strong foci for modern human myths and fears. Justin said there were other signs, but he didn't explain any further. I suspect he was talking about aurae."

"But is there any way to help them?"

"As far I as I know, that's not possible."

"Are you sure about that?"

Bob paused. "Well, that's what the Council's expert on Archetypes told Justin."

I leaned forward, "Who's the expert?"

Bob paused again. "You aren't going to like this," he said slowly.

My heart sank as I suddenly realized what Bob was going to say.

"Morgan is the Council's expert on Archetypes."