Hi this chapter is kind of short. Sorry about that but its not an easy
story to write I have discovered. I'm also working on something else at the
same time. Please review and give me a reason to continue this. Thanks!
*-*-*-*-*
After Dylan had fallen back a sleep Natalie went into the sitting room of the suit to join Alex and Bosley who had arrived bearing food. "That must have been one heck of a dream she had," said Natalie pulling a diet Coke out of the mini-bar. "What do you think it was about?"
"Didn't she say anything?" asked Alex concerned.
"No, she just lay down and went back to sleep. I think she was trying not to cry though."
Bosley took a place next to Alex on the couch, "Sounds like our Dylan."
"I don't know what is wrong but I am worried about her. I think it's more than what we discussed in the restaurant. Alex? Do you think that we can get her to open up to us?"
"Well we know something is going on with her. I'm pretty certain it has to do with the Thin Man. Did..." Alex was cut off by the ringing of the phone. "Hello," she said into the receiver.
Dylan stood in the door way listening to her friends. She was glad they were concerned for her a little scared too. If she had doubted everything she had seen in Cartusu's eyes before, the dream left little room for doubt. She had never been able to alter the course the dream and he had. "Come on Dylan, you know that it's impossible," said her mind. However that didn't change the fact that he had changed the dream and if it he could do that then that could mean her friends were in danger again because of her. "How could I be so stupid," she wondered. "Okay maybe not stupid, foolish? Naïve?"
From the tone of the conversation in the sitting room she could tell who was on the phone. It was Inspector Morrison. "I don't understand," said Alex. "She wouldn't do that." Natalie came closer so she could hear as well, pressing her ear against the back of the receiver. "So you are saying that in the morning Cartusu will be released?" There was a long pause while she listened some more. "Well extend our stay however long it takes to catch him. Yes I understand. I'll pass the information on, thank you Inspector." With that she hung up the phone.
"What was that about?" asked Bosley.
"That was Inspector Morrison. He says that Dylan dropped all charges against Cartusu," said Alex glancing at the door to the room in which Dylan was supposed to be sleeping. Dylan ducked back into the shadows hoping they didn't notice that she was awake.
"I don't get it? Why would she do that?" asked Natalie. "You don't think she fell for the bad guy again? Do you?"
"No, but in light of her dropping the charges the Inspector would like us to stay longer and work on the strangler case," said Alex as she stood and went to get herself a drink. "Bos, want a Coke?"
"Yeah toss me one," he called. The can of Coke sailed effortless across the room straight into his hand. "Dwight Gooden watch out here comes Alex Munday." Alex just smiled at him and continued. "He also said that while we were still on the case he didn't want Dylan being involved any longer."
"What?" Natalie was getting tired of all the surprises of the day. "He can't do that. We're a team and she.."
"And she has been benched," Alex finished for her. "I think we need to talk to her about this. Find out why she did it. Maybe she had a good reason."
From the darkened room Dylan shook her head. They could ask her but she didn't have a good reason other than looking for a man that was supposed to be dead and buried. Alex was right when she mentioned the Thin Man. After Madison Lee met her demise in the old theater Dylan and the other angels gave their statements to the police. After the premier was over she ran into one of the officers on the scene and he told her that the two bodies in the alley way had both been DOA. Later she found out that the nuns had the body of the Thin Man who they called Anthony cremated. A strong pain consumed her heart. It made no sense to her. It was one kiss. She had had kisses before from various men and they meant nothing. She had had sex with various men that meant even less so how did he become more to her in the few moments they were together? "Why did I do it? Why did I free Cartusu?" she asked herself. Did she really want him to be alive that desperately?
Sitting on the edge of the bed she fingered the medallion that hung around her head in her hands. "Nothing we truly want comes without sacrifice," she said softly to herself repeating the words Cartusu spoke in her dream. "Well I guess I have already sacrificed my career and reputation what else can he want from me?" Quietly she stood and rummaged through her suitcase. Finding a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt she got dressed, pulled on Alex's boots and exited out the second door to her room which led to the hotel hallway. Her feet made no sound on the plush carpeting as she made her way to the elevator. Where she was going she didn't now but the room and her friends, although she knew they meant well, were smothering her.
*-*-*-*-*
Cartusu lay on his cot back from his sojourn into Dylan's mind. Oh what a place it was from what he had seen! So much she had locked away from herself, a treasure chest waiting for him to open it up. The dream she had shown him, whether or not she knew it she had shown it to him purposefully. It was a great feeling knowing that he had power over her, that he would be free from his cell like he had so many times before. Even though he was back in his own body he could still feel her presence all around him, pure. The women he had killed, they had all been drug addicts, prostitutes, child abusers but Dylan. He sighed, she was untarnished her soul clean. The Teacher oh so many years ago never told him it could be like it was with her, but he had suspected the teacher of withholding much information from him.
The Teacher was the last in a long line of teachers of the old ways. Rumours had it that he was descended from the teacher that taught Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler, Count Dracula. Cartusu could believe that about the Teacher and wondered where he was today, if he was still consuming vessels to continue his long life. So far he had only one other vessel, a young man whose body he now possessed but he could still remember when he had been known as Anatoly Florescu. It was just coincidence that his vessel, Peter Cartusu was also of Romanian heritage. His consumption of Cartusu had been awkward and damaging that is why he had to find a new vessel and soon.
"You!" called a bobby waking him from his thoughts. "The paperwork for your release is finished. You're free to go."
Cartusu looked briefly around the bleak cell that he had been held in. No, he wouldn't miss it not for a moment. Following swiftly behind the bobby he asked, "What time is it?"
"After midnight. Do I look like a clock?" replied the bobby nastily. "There are some papers you need to sign." They walked over to a cluttered desk and he handed the soon to be free man an ink pen. "Sign here and here," he pointed to two lines at the bottom of a form titled, "Release Form A8-c5". Cartusu signed and was handed a box which contained his possessions; wrist watch, keys, and wallet which he flipped though to make sure everything was still inside.
"It was nice staying with you," he said with a beaming smile and strolled out into the night air, inhaling the damp mist deeply. He wanted to go out and look for more prey but he wasn't sure if it would harm the link he had formed with the angel. No, no matter how much he wanted to consume, to eat, he couldn't take the chance. It was almost love that he felt for Dylan, he thought heading towards the Embankment Gardens, something deep, something that happens when two souls touch. As he sat on a bench under the orange sodium light he expanded his mind.
Dylan didn't know where she was going. It didn't matter; she couldn't stay inside the hotel room any longer. The doorman gave her a funny look as she stepped out into the night and started walking. There was no rhyme or reason to where she was going. Stepping on to a larger street she started following it. At one intersection she looked up and saw a sign that said she was at the intersection of Soutwark Rode and Blackfriars, then another directing her towards Waterloo Station. Considering turning back she heard a voice behind her. "My how your hair shines with fire even in this light."
Turning suddenly she stood in a defensive pose. No one was there. "Okay Cartusu come out. I know you are there," she called into the night.
"Follow my voice Dylan, follow me."
"I don't think so," she yelled. "If you come near me again I'll throw your ass back in jail." A deep masculine laugh emerged from all around her.
From an apartment above the street an older couple peered out their window to see who was waking them from their sleep. All they saw was a young woman with red hair yelling at no one. The older woman shook her head and said to her husband, "such a pretty thing. Too bad she has ruined herself on drugs." Her husband shrugged and climbed back into bed.
"I don't think you will. You want to know about Anthony and I can help you. I can take you to him. You want that don't you?" asked the voice. An icy wind blew the collar of her jacket open exposing the medallion she wore around her neck. "It's lovely. I noticed it when I came for you today."
She shook herself. "I'm hallucinating. I have to be. It must be from when he hit my head today," she muttered.
"Dylan, you know I am for real. Accept it. Accept me."
"Okay," she decided. She would play along with her mind. "You say you know what I want. Well what do you want? You said a sacrifice what did you mean?"
"In due time Dylan, in due time. Tomorrow I want you to come alone to St. Alban's Road number 22. Come alone and we can find your Thin Man for you." As suddenly as the voice came it left causing her to collapse to her knees on the pavement. Her head felt light as though it wasn't really part of her anymore. She had to get back to the hotel. Waiting a minute until she felt more like herself she continued on her way.
*-*-*-*-*
After Dylan had fallen back a sleep Natalie went into the sitting room of the suit to join Alex and Bosley who had arrived bearing food. "That must have been one heck of a dream she had," said Natalie pulling a diet Coke out of the mini-bar. "What do you think it was about?"
"Didn't she say anything?" asked Alex concerned.
"No, she just lay down and went back to sleep. I think she was trying not to cry though."
Bosley took a place next to Alex on the couch, "Sounds like our Dylan."
"I don't know what is wrong but I am worried about her. I think it's more than what we discussed in the restaurant. Alex? Do you think that we can get her to open up to us?"
"Well we know something is going on with her. I'm pretty certain it has to do with the Thin Man. Did..." Alex was cut off by the ringing of the phone. "Hello," she said into the receiver.
Dylan stood in the door way listening to her friends. She was glad they were concerned for her a little scared too. If she had doubted everything she had seen in Cartusu's eyes before, the dream left little room for doubt. She had never been able to alter the course the dream and he had. "Come on Dylan, you know that it's impossible," said her mind. However that didn't change the fact that he had changed the dream and if it he could do that then that could mean her friends were in danger again because of her. "How could I be so stupid," she wondered. "Okay maybe not stupid, foolish? Naïve?"
From the tone of the conversation in the sitting room she could tell who was on the phone. It was Inspector Morrison. "I don't understand," said Alex. "She wouldn't do that." Natalie came closer so she could hear as well, pressing her ear against the back of the receiver. "So you are saying that in the morning Cartusu will be released?" There was a long pause while she listened some more. "Well extend our stay however long it takes to catch him. Yes I understand. I'll pass the information on, thank you Inspector." With that she hung up the phone.
"What was that about?" asked Bosley.
"That was Inspector Morrison. He says that Dylan dropped all charges against Cartusu," said Alex glancing at the door to the room in which Dylan was supposed to be sleeping. Dylan ducked back into the shadows hoping they didn't notice that she was awake.
"I don't get it? Why would she do that?" asked Natalie. "You don't think she fell for the bad guy again? Do you?"
"No, but in light of her dropping the charges the Inspector would like us to stay longer and work on the strangler case," said Alex as she stood and went to get herself a drink. "Bos, want a Coke?"
"Yeah toss me one," he called. The can of Coke sailed effortless across the room straight into his hand. "Dwight Gooden watch out here comes Alex Munday." Alex just smiled at him and continued. "He also said that while we were still on the case he didn't want Dylan being involved any longer."
"What?" Natalie was getting tired of all the surprises of the day. "He can't do that. We're a team and she.."
"And she has been benched," Alex finished for her. "I think we need to talk to her about this. Find out why she did it. Maybe she had a good reason."
From the darkened room Dylan shook her head. They could ask her but she didn't have a good reason other than looking for a man that was supposed to be dead and buried. Alex was right when she mentioned the Thin Man. After Madison Lee met her demise in the old theater Dylan and the other angels gave their statements to the police. After the premier was over she ran into one of the officers on the scene and he told her that the two bodies in the alley way had both been DOA. Later she found out that the nuns had the body of the Thin Man who they called Anthony cremated. A strong pain consumed her heart. It made no sense to her. It was one kiss. She had had kisses before from various men and they meant nothing. She had had sex with various men that meant even less so how did he become more to her in the few moments they were together? "Why did I do it? Why did I free Cartusu?" she asked herself. Did she really want him to be alive that desperately?
Sitting on the edge of the bed she fingered the medallion that hung around her head in her hands. "Nothing we truly want comes without sacrifice," she said softly to herself repeating the words Cartusu spoke in her dream. "Well I guess I have already sacrificed my career and reputation what else can he want from me?" Quietly she stood and rummaged through her suitcase. Finding a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt she got dressed, pulled on Alex's boots and exited out the second door to her room which led to the hotel hallway. Her feet made no sound on the plush carpeting as she made her way to the elevator. Where she was going she didn't now but the room and her friends, although she knew they meant well, were smothering her.
*-*-*-*-*
Cartusu lay on his cot back from his sojourn into Dylan's mind. Oh what a place it was from what he had seen! So much she had locked away from herself, a treasure chest waiting for him to open it up. The dream she had shown him, whether or not she knew it she had shown it to him purposefully. It was a great feeling knowing that he had power over her, that he would be free from his cell like he had so many times before. Even though he was back in his own body he could still feel her presence all around him, pure. The women he had killed, they had all been drug addicts, prostitutes, child abusers but Dylan. He sighed, she was untarnished her soul clean. The Teacher oh so many years ago never told him it could be like it was with her, but he had suspected the teacher of withholding much information from him.
The Teacher was the last in a long line of teachers of the old ways. Rumours had it that he was descended from the teacher that taught Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler, Count Dracula. Cartusu could believe that about the Teacher and wondered where he was today, if he was still consuming vessels to continue his long life. So far he had only one other vessel, a young man whose body he now possessed but he could still remember when he had been known as Anatoly Florescu. It was just coincidence that his vessel, Peter Cartusu was also of Romanian heritage. His consumption of Cartusu had been awkward and damaging that is why he had to find a new vessel and soon.
"You!" called a bobby waking him from his thoughts. "The paperwork for your release is finished. You're free to go."
Cartusu looked briefly around the bleak cell that he had been held in. No, he wouldn't miss it not for a moment. Following swiftly behind the bobby he asked, "What time is it?"
"After midnight. Do I look like a clock?" replied the bobby nastily. "There are some papers you need to sign." They walked over to a cluttered desk and he handed the soon to be free man an ink pen. "Sign here and here," he pointed to two lines at the bottom of a form titled, "Release Form A8-c5". Cartusu signed and was handed a box which contained his possessions; wrist watch, keys, and wallet which he flipped though to make sure everything was still inside.
"It was nice staying with you," he said with a beaming smile and strolled out into the night air, inhaling the damp mist deeply. He wanted to go out and look for more prey but he wasn't sure if it would harm the link he had formed with the angel. No, no matter how much he wanted to consume, to eat, he couldn't take the chance. It was almost love that he felt for Dylan, he thought heading towards the Embankment Gardens, something deep, something that happens when two souls touch. As he sat on a bench under the orange sodium light he expanded his mind.
Dylan didn't know where she was going. It didn't matter; she couldn't stay inside the hotel room any longer. The doorman gave her a funny look as she stepped out into the night and started walking. There was no rhyme or reason to where she was going. Stepping on to a larger street she started following it. At one intersection she looked up and saw a sign that said she was at the intersection of Soutwark Rode and Blackfriars, then another directing her towards Waterloo Station. Considering turning back she heard a voice behind her. "My how your hair shines with fire even in this light."
Turning suddenly she stood in a defensive pose. No one was there. "Okay Cartusu come out. I know you are there," she called into the night.
"Follow my voice Dylan, follow me."
"I don't think so," she yelled. "If you come near me again I'll throw your ass back in jail." A deep masculine laugh emerged from all around her.
From an apartment above the street an older couple peered out their window to see who was waking them from their sleep. All they saw was a young woman with red hair yelling at no one. The older woman shook her head and said to her husband, "such a pretty thing. Too bad she has ruined herself on drugs." Her husband shrugged and climbed back into bed.
"I don't think you will. You want to know about Anthony and I can help you. I can take you to him. You want that don't you?" asked the voice. An icy wind blew the collar of her jacket open exposing the medallion she wore around her neck. "It's lovely. I noticed it when I came for you today."
She shook herself. "I'm hallucinating. I have to be. It must be from when he hit my head today," she muttered.
"Dylan, you know I am for real. Accept it. Accept me."
"Okay," she decided. She would play along with her mind. "You say you know what I want. Well what do you want? You said a sacrifice what did you mean?"
"In due time Dylan, in due time. Tomorrow I want you to come alone to St. Alban's Road number 22. Come alone and we can find your Thin Man for you." As suddenly as the voice came it left causing her to collapse to her knees on the pavement. Her head felt light as though it wasn't really part of her anymore. She had to get back to the hotel. Waiting a minute until she felt more like herself she continued on her way.
