"How many more?"
Lancaster sighed, eyes downcast. "Four. Four more of my little ones gone."
I raised an eyebrow. I didn't think he meant height. "Little ones? They were young?"
"Yes, yes, very. None had been with us for even as long as ten years."
To me, a person in her mid-twenties, ten years sounded like a fairly long time, but I guess the perception of time is different when you're 600 years old. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Pretty words, but what are you going to do about it?" There was a sudden hardness to his voice that nearly made me shiver.
"Before I can figure that out, I need to know what it is you expect me to do- find the killer or avenge the deaths?" I was afraid to hear the answer.
Lancaster hesitated. "As much appeal as revenge has, I know not even you would willingly shirk the law...at least not to aide a vampire." His eyes challenged me, but I knew he was probing, not reading my mind. My secrets were safe enough. "Find the killer, I just want this to stop."
So did I, but if the feds thought it was spontaneous combustion, how was I going to get anything done?
Doggett noticed that his hands were trembling as he poured glasses of white grape juice. When he'd solicitously asked if he could get Reyes anything, after insisting she sit down, she'd said she was thirsty. It was then he realized that his throat was terribly parched. He almost felt like he'd been sucking on a salt lick like the one his rabbit had had when he was a boy.
Which made wonder if they should have a pet. A cat, no a dog, definitely a dog, might be nice. Gibson would love it, and a pet taught responsibility, not that he wasn't already, especially for a teenager. But a dog would be good to protect the house, especially with the baby coming...his hands were still shaky as he mopped up the juice with a napkin.
He couldn't believe that the human mind held the capacity for being filled simultaneously with joy and terror. Like his was. He counted his blessings that of all the females who could have thrown their lot in with his, he found one with the rare insight to know why he could be scared and trilled both. I have eight months more months to learn to believe in happily ever after, he thought, picking up the glasses of juice.
Five hundred and eighty odd years older than me or not, Lancaster had not attained any semblance of maturity during all his years side-stepping the mortal coil. Dealing with him had an eerily familiar feeling to it...it was not altogether unlike dealing with my younger half-brother - when he was eight. The petulant vampire may not have enjoyed all the privilege that his brother had, but he'd been royally spoiled anyway. I had a sneaking suspicion that this might have been the first time in centuries that he'd not been able to get his way by throwing a tantrum.
I got through the rest of the meeting without losing any of my blood, or being thrown into anything hard, so I considered it a roaring success. Your idea might differ wildly from mine, but that can't be helped. I promised to begin looking in earnest for the "killer," and left the quasi-art museum. Lancaster was wallowing so wantonly in his misery that he scarcely seemed to notice my departure.
There were only a few hundred yards left on my walk home when I heard rapid footfalls behind me. I spun around, expecting trouble, and finding it. What looked like a stocky boy in his late teens, but was actually a vampire, was running at me at full tilt. Unaccustomed to such bullish behavior from a vampire, even while wearing red sweaters, I did the first thing that came to mind- I held out my foot to trip him.
Apparently vampires, or at least this one, can't stop on a dime. He looked undignified, and a bit dazed, as he sprawled out flat on his back. Wasting no time, I fished my cross out and held it in front of me. It instantly flared to life with a phosphorous glow. Even dazed, the vampire had the presence of mind to lift his arms to shade his face from its sight. Many older vampires are impervious to a cross's affect, but this one was still wet behind the ears, metaphorically speaking, so the cross was enough to keep him at bay.
To my surprise, he began emitting a high pitch keening from deep in his throat. "Are you...whimpering?" I asked in disgust. I'd never met such a wimp of a vampire, even Robert had more dignity than this.
"I'm sorry, ok? When I picked you I had no idea you were the Executioner. "He whined.
"So if I were anyone else, you would have eaten me??"
"No! It's not like that. We're only supposed to scare a human tonight, not hurt them." He said, which made no sense. Even if he were one of those rare vampires that didn't feed on people, why would he be out pestering them? " It's part of the initiation." He whimpered, still shielding his face. " Please don't kill me!"
Great, a vampire fraternity, just what the world needs. I sighed deeply. I didn't have a warrant of execution on me for him, and he hadn't actually done anything to hurt me, so it would be hard to claim self defense. Your honor, I thought he was going to annoy me to death... "Go. Now" I said sternly.
I backed away so he could get up, since I had no intention of putting the cross away. You never knew when someone, human or monster, was playing innocent.
"Thank you for your mercy," he simpered, scrambling to his feet while trying to bow in a servile manner. He was so bear-like in shape that he didn't pull it off with anything resembling even human grace. I guess there's a clumsy few even amongst the vampires, then.
"Don't let the fact that I let you go get around." I growled in my most menacing tone.
"Oh, I won't!" He called back over one shoulder as he bolted. I stood there a moment and shook my head. Vampire kids these days.
I made it back to the apartment with no further mishaps. Sinking into bed I rejoiced that I'd have no further vampire encounters. At least for the night.
Mulder yawned and stretched as he and Scully got ready for work. While it was technically a day off, the bureau was a bit worried about terrorist attacks, and thought that completely empty buildings would be too tempting a target, so they'd offered over-time to anyone willing to come in for a few hours. Scully talked him into going in until noon, so they could puzzle through the case without any distractions.
Scratching his belly, he watched idly as Scully checked under the bed for one of her black pumps.
"Couldn't you wear the brown ones?" He asked, buttoning his shirt.
"I could, but I don't want to." Came her muffled reply.
Mulder shook his head, there was no reasoning with her when it came to footwear. "So...I think I got a preview of Emily and Will's teen years." He commented in a dry voice.
"How so?" Scully asked emerging from under the bed victoriously, a black pump clutched in one hand.
"Oh, I woke up a few hours ago, and looking out the window, saw Anita sneaking back in the yard. It was considerate of her to be quiet, but it almost made me expect to see her looking around furtively for spotlights and vicious dogs."
"I'm sure you're exaggerating, Mulder."
"Me?" Mulder tried to sound innocent. "She's hiding something, I'm sure of it."
"Aren't we all." Scully muttered. "You worry too much."
"I'm not worried. I'm intrigued."
"I find it oddly comforting that you are still paranoid of everyone." She remarked.
"Right, because I'm always wrong about my suspicions." He smirked. "And after all, there are tons of books and movies about nannies with shady, hidden, lives."
"Mulder..." Scully sighed, too tired to put her heart into a proper protest.
Lancaster sighed, eyes downcast. "Four. Four more of my little ones gone."
I raised an eyebrow. I didn't think he meant height. "Little ones? They were young?"
"Yes, yes, very. None had been with us for even as long as ten years."
To me, a person in her mid-twenties, ten years sounded like a fairly long time, but I guess the perception of time is different when you're 600 years old. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Pretty words, but what are you going to do about it?" There was a sudden hardness to his voice that nearly made me shiver.
"Before I can figure that out, I need to know what it is you expect me to do- find the killer or avenge the deaths?" I was afraid to hear the answer.
Lancaster hesitated. "As much appeal as revenge has, I know not even you would willingly shirk the law...at least not to aide a vampire." His eyes challenged me, but I knew he was probing, not reading my mind. My secrets were safe enough. "Find the killer, I just want this to stop."
So did I, but if the feds thought it was spontaneous combustion, how was I going to get anything done?
Doggett noticed that his hands were trembling as he poured glasses of white grape juice. When he'd solicitously asked if he could get Reyes anything, after insisting she sit down, she'd said she was thirsty. It was then he realized that his throat was terribly parched. He almost felt like he'd been sucking on a salt lick like the one his rabbit had had when he was a boy.
Which made wonder if they should have a pet. A cat, no a dog, definitely a dog, might be nice. Gibson would love it, and a pet taught responsibility, not that he wasn't already, especially for a teenager. But a dog would be good to protect the house, especially with the baby coming...his hands were still shaky as he mopped up the juice with a napkin.
He couldn't believe that the human mind held the capacity for being filled simultaneously with joy and terror. Like his was. He counted his blessings that of all the females who could have thrown their lot in with his, he found one with the rare insight to know why he could be scared and trilled both. I have eight months more months to learn to believe in happily ever after, he thought, picking up the glasses of juice.
Five hundred and eighty odd years older than me or not, Lancaster had not attained any semblance of maturity during all his years side-stepping the mortal coil. Dealing with him had an eerily familiar feeling to it...it was not altogether unlike dealing with my younger half-brother - when he was eight. The petulant vampire may not have enjoyed all the privilege that his brother had, but he'd been royally spoiled anyway. I had a sneaking suspicion that this might have been the first time in centuries that he'd not been able to get his way by throwing a tantrum.
I got through the rest of the meeting without losing any of my blood, or being thrown into anything hard, so I considered it a roaring success. Your idea might differ wildly from mine, but that can't be helped. I promised to begin looking in earnest for the "killer," and left the quasi-art museum. Lancaster was wallowing so wantonly in his misery that he scarcely seemed to notice my departure.
There were only a few hundred yards left on my walk home when I heard rapid footfalls behind me. I spun around, expecting trouble, and finding it. What looked like a stocky boy in his late teens, but was actually a vampire, was running at me at full tilt. Unaccustomed to such bullish behavior from a vampire, even while wearing red sweaters, I did the first thing that came to mind- I held out my foot to trip him.
Apparently vampires, or at least this one, can't stop on a dime. He looked undignified, and a bit dazed, as he sprawled out flat on his back. Wasting no time, I fished my cross out and held it in front of me. It instantly flared to life with a phosphorous glow. Even dazed, the vampire had the presence of mind to lift his arms to shade his face from its sight. Many older vampires are impervious to a cross's affect, but this one was still wet behind the ears, metaphorically speaking, so the cross was enough to keep him at bay.
To my surprise, he began emitting a high pitch keening from deep in his throat. "Are you...whimpering?" I asked in disgust. I'd never met such a wimp of a vampire, even Robert had more dignity than this.
"I'm sorry, ok? When I picked you I had no idea you were the Executioner. "He whined.
"So if I were anyone else, you would have eaten me??"
"No! It's not like that. We're only supposed to scare a human tonight, not hurt them." He said, which made no sense. Even if he were one of those rare vampires that didn't feed on people, why would he be out pestering them? " It's part of the initiation." He whimpered, still shielding his face. " Please don't kill me!"
Great, a vampire fraternity, just what the world needs. I sighed deeply. I didn't have a warrant of execution on me for him, and he hadn't actually done anything to hurt me, so it would be hard to claim self defense. Your honor, I thought he was going to annoy me to death... "Go. Now" I said sternly.
I backed away so he could get up, since I had no intention of putting the cross away. You never knew when someone, human or monster, was playing innocent.
"Thank you for your mercy," he simpered, scrambling to his feet while trying to bow in a servile manner. He was so bear-like in shape that he didn't pull it off with anything resembling even human grace. I guess there's a clumsy few even amongst the vampires, then.
"Don't let the fact that I let you go get around." I growled in my most menacing tone.
"Oh, I won't!" He called back over one shoulder as he bolted. I stood there a moment and shook my head. Vampire kids these days.
I made it back to the apartment with no further mishaps. Sinking into bed I rejoiced that I'd have no further vampire encounters. At least for the night.
Mulder yawned and stretched as he and Scully got ready for work. While it was technically a day off, the bureau was a bit worried about terrorist attacks, and thought that completely empty buildings would be too tempting a target, so they'd offered over-time to anyone willing to come in for a few hours. Scully talked him into going in until noon, so they could puzzle through the case without any distractions.
Scratching his belly, he watched idly as Scully checked under the bed for one of her black pumps.
"Couldn't you wear the brown ones?" He asked, buttoning his shirt.
"I could, but I don't want to." Came her muffled reply.
Mulder shook his head, there was no reasoning with her when it came to footwear. "So...I think I got a preview of Emily and Will's teen years." He commented in a dry voice.
"How so?" Scully asked emerging from under the bed victoriously, a black pump clutched in one hand.
"Oh, I woke up a few hours ago, and looking out the window, saw Anita sneaking back in the yard. It was considerate of her to be quiet, but it almost made me expect to see her looking around furtively for spotlights and vicious dogs."
"I'm sure you're exaggerating, Mulder."
"Me?" Mulder tried to sound innocent. "She's hiding something, I'm sure of it."
"Aren't we all." Scully muttered. "You worry too much."
"I'm not worried. I'm intrigued."
"I find it oddly comforting that you are still paranoid of everyone." She remarked.
"Right, because I'm always wrong about my suspicions." He smirked. "And after all, there are tons of books and movies about nannies with shady, hidden, lives."
"Mulder..." Scully sighed, too tired to put her heart into a proper protest.