Chapter 30

-Aisha-

After making sure Taylor was secure in her space under the bed, Lisa and I got back to the main room of the loft.

"Well, that's awfully inconvenient," Lisa complained, dropping back into her couch. "Now I'll have to wait until sunset to get any answers out of her."

"If you can call her riddles answers, anyway," I pointed out with a smirk. She shot a glare back at me.

"This is serious," Tats sniped back. "I don't know why my power mimicked hers there, and I'm not getting anything except a migraine trying to figure it out. What's going on? What if - no, scratch that, when - it gets worse?"

"You retire from villainy and get rich making fortune cookies?" I tried to imagine what a Cassandra cookie would have in it. Portents point to perilous paths? There are plenty of fish in the sea that wish to eat your face?

Lisa looked around in vain for something to throw at me, but nothing was in her reach. She rubbed her forehead

"Fine, be like that. I'm honestly tempted to tie her up while she's out so she doesn't run off the second she wakes up, but…"

I didn't need her to elaborate. I could easily see Taylor's reaction if she got trapped in an enclosed space by people she thought she could trust. Again. That one would best be watched from a safe distance. Like, another city.

"Don't worry, I'm not doing that," Miss Sherlock added, raising her hands a bit defensively. "Just… frustrated, is all. I'll take a nap, you'd better go to school. No, it's not fair, yes, I'm happy," she finished with a tired smirk and got off the couch, heading to her room.

It wasn't worth it to argue.

It was definitely worth it to steal all the coffee on my way out, though.

I was idly doodling in the margins of my math textbook, counting down the last few minutes to lunch break. Mr Quinlan himself looked like he was waiting for his drink break as well.

Two of the three hadn't shown up to school today, and nobody knew anything. Not that I could ask around too much, but there was enough noise that getting the gist of it was easy. Cutesy had been on the outs with the other two since… probably about a week after I'd heard them planning to sell her out. No points for guessing what happened there. She wasn't saying anything about the situation that became public knowledge, at least not yet.

That still left the suspicious timing of Soulless and Shady disappearing. The same morning that Taylor wanders off and comes back with a bite mark? Bullshit that's a coincidence. The only question would be, why today? Well, tonight? Cray-Cray had a whole month to come after them, and I don't think they'd have had a chance to do anythi— oh, duh, crazy precog. That'd do it.

The bell rang, signaling freedom at last, if not for long. I wonder if I can find their addresses somewhere? Might be worth swinging by, having a look…

A quick check of the phone book in the library got me the Barnes' address (whose stupid idea was this anyway? Letting just anyone find out exactly where you live?) which led me to a nice house in one of the wealthier neighbourhoods of the town. Unfortunately, the house was empty and everything was locked, so I didn't have anyone to tailgate inside. I wondered if it was worth trying to pick the lock, but… probably nothing too interesting inside. And the place looked fancy enough to have an alarm. Looking around one last time before leaving, I noticed two cars parked in the garage. Hey, how'd they leave if their cars are down here? I snapped a quick picture of the plates with my phone, and headed back to the loft. Better have a chat with Lisa before the Queen of Cuckoo wakes up. I shifted my backpack a little since my back was getting sore from the bags of coffee - why am I still carrying those, anyway? - and set off. I didn't particularly like these clouds on the horizon.

"...So no, that's their only two cars," Lisa said, looking up from her laptop while I stared out into the rain. "I think you may be right, something's definitely up on that front. With the other one gone too…"

I kept a blank face and hoped Lisa was pointing her power in another direction. I hadn't told anyone that Hess was Shadow Stalker - if Taylor hadn't outed her yet, she probably didn't want to. For whatever reason.

"...well, we'll get to ask her soon enough," she finished with a glance at the clock, getting off the sofa and heading towards the room Taylor was sleeping in. I followed right behind as the blonde went in and crouched down next to the bed, just as the vampire got out, rubbing her eyes blearily.

"Good evening, sleepyhead. I've got questions, and I need answers. What— mmph!"

Taylor shook her head, examining the bite marks on the hand she didn't have clamped over Lisa's mouth. With a clearly unhappy frown, she pushed past us both.

"Hey, don't you dare run off on me!" Lisa shouted the moment our crazy girl let go.

Taylor ran off on her. I grabbed my jacket and ran after the vampire as best I could.

I was half falling over by the time Taylor finally slowed down, a fair distance from the loft. I paused to look around and catch my breath, trying to figure out where we were, exactly. Nothing around seemed very familiar, though. Not that I could see all that much after dark, during a rain, with only about one in three lamps working around here.

"So, what was that all about?" I asked her. She didn't pay attention, though, sniffing the air. After a few seconds, she frowned, shook her mop of hair - by now about as soaked as an actual mop - and took off again. Dammit, Taylor, I already had gym class today.

This run was far shorter, though, ending next to an apartment building. It looked half-abandoned, but a pair of guys were smoking under the roof of one of the landings. Finally, the vampire turned around to acknowledge my presence.

"Persistent devil, are you not?" she huffed. "A bargain, then. Answers second, dinner first." She tilted her head towards the two guys. There was a lamp next to them, letting me see the red and green they were wearing.

"No problem," I answered. If a few gangers don't have the blood to go around fucking with people for a week or two, what's the harm? "Might not want to munch on them out in the open like this, though. They're guarding something, aren't they?" Hardly any other reason to be out here, after all. And for all of Taylor's talent at finding people who would follow a chick into a dark alley with ideas, it seemed even Brockton Bay's supply of lowlifes was starting to thin a little lately.

"'Tis but another den of iniquity. Would you be a guiding hand for the guards, perhaps? They may not have the strength to swat me like a different bloodsucker, but they believe themselves big men that need no help to brave the shadows."

That sounded like a plan, anyway. Now what would make for a good distraction… Taylor snapped her fingers in front of my face before I could spot anything useful.

"You need no props in this stage, Little Imp. Take one by the hand and dance into the night. As long as the magic wool is over his eyes…"

Well, how bad could it be to try it her way?

I walked up to one of the thugs and, with a bit of effort, managed to pull him a few steps.

"Hey, where are you going?" his buddy asked. The guy I was pulling paused with a confused look.

"...Going for a walk, I guess?" he said carefully. "Yeah, need to stretch my legs a little. Back in a minute," he added somewhat more confidently.

Holy shit, this is working. This trick will be so much fun…

I managed to pull the thug into the nearest alleyway, though it was fucking exhausting. He stood there, staring at a dumpster for a few seconds after I let him go, then turned around… and opened his mouth to scream.

Taylor was faster. Her hands were around his mouth and throat before he could make a noise, and she leaned in. I heard a dull thunk behind me, and saw the other guy unconscious next to the alleyway.

"Smooth," I told Taylor when her second course passed out. "Now what?"

"Now," she licked her lips, "to toss them to their warm shelter."

"I'm not dragging anything else tonight," I warned the vampire. She just shrugged and went to pick up the guy near the alleyway entrance. And by 'pick up', I meant that she lifted him like a shopping bag and carried him behind the dumpster, laying him on top of some trash bags that didn't fit in. The other one ended up next to him a few seconds later.

"And now… for my own side of the bargain. There is someone you should meet."

We snuck into an abandoned house at the edge of the Docks. One day I have to ask Taylor where she learned to pick locks. A few steps in, a voice called out from one of the rooms.

"Taylor? Is that you?"

It was a teenage girl, guessing by the sound of it. Sounded somewhat familiar, too. She stuck an even more recognizable red-headed mug into the hallway.

"You're joking. You're actually joking," I told Taylor. "How'd you end up with her of all people?"

"'Tis a fable far less fabulous that free thoughts forward," she replied with a somewhat embarrassed smile. "A blind blunder in a breaking building, nothing more."

"...Who are you talking to?" Emma asked, looking around the room. Her eyes paused on me for a moment, but then she shook her head and kept looking.

"Ah, the impudent imp is a rude guest, it seems," the vampire replied. "Leave your coat at the door, please."

She probably didn't mean my actual coat, even if it was still dripping from the rain. I walked up to the redhead and put my face as close to hers as I could - I had to tiptoe for that - and turned my power off. She yelped and jumped back, almost falling over backwards.

"Heya," I told her, then turned to Taylor. "I'll ask again: what the fuck?"

"She saved my life," Emma answered herself. "Even if I didn't deserve it, after…" she trailed off.

"No shit you didn't. I got her out of that locker. Seriously, keeping her in there the whole day?"

The redhead stared insistently at the floor, wringing her hands. "We would've let her out after the first period, but there was no sound when we knocked on the door. We thought somebody else got her out, I swear!"

Taylor coughed. Emma flinched.

"...Okay, maybe not the first period," she admitted. "But we wouldn't have left her in there after classes!"

Taylor seemed to accept this version of the story, though I noticed her fingernails leaving gouges in the wall outside the bitch's vision. Good to know she hasn't gone completely crazy… oh, right.

"So how did she save your life, anyway?" I asked. She took a deep breath, and started explaining.

"...and that's the last I saw of her until now," Emma finished.

I thought about the story I just heard. Beyond finding out that Shadow Stalker is a backstabbing bitch (perfect couple, these two), the only real surprise was finding out that Taylor had another classy vampire power that people would kill to get their hands on. Or bring out the flamethrowers. Some boring people would probably get worried about that.

"Alright then, let's say I believe you're being honest," I said. Especially if the blood did what I think it does - even for this backstabbing ho, that's one suspicously fast turnaround. "What's your plan now? You can't hide out here forever, and there's no way we're letting you live in our base."

"Well, the first thing is probably dealing with Soph— Shadow Stalker." The redhead leaned in conspiratorially. "I think I have a plan. Can you grab a few things from the stores from me? They should still be open for now."