Chapter 6 - Just Returning the Favor

9:00 pm - The Dal

When Bo walked in the Dal, she immediately saw Tamsin sitting at the bar by herself with a glass of whiskey on her right hand side, and a file folder in front of her. The Valkyrie had her right hand on her forehead, as if she was trying hard to think something through.

Bo walked to her and sat beside her. " New case?" She asked.

Tamsin turned around and looked at her. " Bored again?" The Valkyrie raised her eyebrows.

" Just offering my help." Bo said as she poured herself a drink.

" Whatever." Tamsin pushed the files to her. " I'm gonna give it to another team anyway." She said, " It's a two men undercover job, but Dyson is not back yet."

" I can go with you." Bo said.

Tamsin frowned and said, " I didn't know you were this bore."

" Well, you helped me find Kenzi, just returning the favor." Bo raised her glass.

" Fine. I guess I could use some succubus help before more bodies are discovered."

" What's the case anyway?" Bo opened the folder in front of her.

" Two deaths in an apartment complex. Both were renters, no eye witnesses, no evidence pointing to the killer, no nothing."

Bo looked at the crime scene photos. The victims looked peaceful, as if they were just sleeping. The only thing that looked odd on them was they looked very pale, even for dead bodies.

" Blood loss?" Bo said as she was reading the coroner's report, " Vampires?"

" You would think, but no. No fang marks on the victims."

" Maybe it's other blood suckers then."

" Yeah, except that there are dozens of different types of faes feeding on blood, not to mention the under faes. We need more clue."

" So what's the undercover job?"

" We pose as new renters, move in and investigate all the tenants in there, see if we can find anything."

" Wow, moving in together? A bit too fast, don't you think?"

Tamsin shot a stare at her and downed her drink. She didn't even bother to comment.

11:00 am - Apartment Complex

" Apartment 1006, 750 square feet, nice layout, nice view, lots of natural light, big walk-in closets, and oh we have just updated all the kitchenware..." Bo and Tamsin walked around the apartment with the old lady from the leasing office introducing the apartment.

" The price is a little bit too friendly, isn't it?" Bo looked at the lady and asked.

The lady squeezed out a smile on her face, looking embarrassed. " We have...some incidents recently, but it's totally under control now!"

Tamsin rolled her eyes behind her back.

" It's a nice apartment. We'll take it." Bo smiled.

" Great! I'll go get the papers ready then." The lady exclaimed. She walked out. Bo and Tamsin followed her.

10:00 pm - Apartment 1006

" I got a question. How the hell are we supposed to sleep?" Bo looked at the bed in the bedroom, the only bedroom.

" On the bed?" Tamsin raised her eyebrows, " You didn't realize this was a one bed, one bath apartment when you told the lady we'll take it?"

" Shit!" Bo cursed. This didn't even occur to her mind until right now. Not that she didn't want to sleep on the same bed with Tamsin, the problem was she wanted it too bad, but seeing Tamsin freaking out every time anything happened between them, Bo just couldn't risk to scare her way again.

She stood there for a while, then she said, " I guess I'll sleep on the couch."

" Sounds good." Tamsin smirked.

Bo took a pillow and a blanket out to the living room. She lied down on the couch and curled up. She heard the Valkyrie close the bedroom door. She lied there for a while, till the weariness had finally consumed her.

She fell asleep.

8:00 am - Apartment 1006

"...wake up, wake up!"

Heard Tamsin's voice, Bo moaned and moved. She felt sleepy, but she opened her eyes.

" You are not here for vacation. We got a job to do." Tamsin frowned.

" I'm up." Bo sat up. She stayed on the couch for a while. She felt dizzy.

" What?" Tamsin asked her.

" Nothing...probably just need some coffee." Bo said. She walked to the bathroom and stood in front of the sink. She splashed some cold water on her face, trying to sober up a little bit. She shook her head and went in the shower, but even the warm water didn't make her feel better.

8:30 am - Apartment Complex

" So we just walk around, and see if anything pops out?" Bo asked.

" Yeah, pretty much. Then we go talk to the tenants." Tamsin said.

" I think I'm really gonna need my coffee now..." Bo stopped and gasped for air.

Tamsin was about to say something, but the ambulance siren interrupted her. It was coming close fast.

8:40 am - Apartment Complex

" Another death?" Bo whispered to Tamsin, when they were both standing outside one of the buildings and watching the paramedics carrying out the dead body.

Two police cars were parked outside the building. The police were asking around for information.

" Let me call the station to check." Tamsin walked away to make a phone call. Bo stayed there with other bystanders.

A young man beside Bo turned around to look at her. " How come I haven't seen you before?" He said to Bo with a flirty smile on his face.

" Just moved in." Bo smiled reluctantly. She turned her eyes back to the ambulance. " Do you know him?"

" Yeah, partied with him a few times, nice guy, living by himself. This is just horrible..." The man paused for a while. He looked around and lowered his voice. " Do you know there were two other deaths in this apartment complex?"

" Emmm...can't say that I do..."

" People are saying that this place is cursed.."

" Wow, really?" Bo wanted to continue the conversation, but she saw Tamsin coming back.

Tamsin put her phone back to her pocket and looked at them with her eyebrows raised.

" Excuse us for a second." Bo smiled to the man. Then she walked away with Tamsin. " Any news?" She asked.

" He died last night. Same MO. No new evidence." Tamsin said," They are going to send me the report and lab results soon."

3:00 pm - Apartment 1006

" Well, nothing stands out." Tamsin put down the files faxed to them.

" Hmmm...he has a hickey on his inner thigh..." Bo said when she was reading the coroner report.

" Can't stop staring between the legs huh?"

Bo rolled her eyes at Tamsin. " No, the guy I just talked outside said the victim lived by himself. He must have a lover right? I mean how the else would he get a hickey there? Maybe the lover killed him?"

" Interesting theory. We'll find out soon." Tamsin called the station.

" I think I'm gonna take a nap. I don't know why but I'm feeling really tired today." Bo said. She lied down on the couch. Then she moved up and rested her head on Tamsin's lap.

" Hey!" Tamsin put down the files in her hand and stared at Bo.

Bo smiled without saying anything. Soon she felt asleep.

8:00 am - Apartment 1006

"...Hey, wake up!"

Bo opened her eyes. She let out a deep breath and looked at Tamsin, who was in front of her. She sat up, but she felt worse than yesterday morning.

" You look like shit." Tamsin said as she was looking at her.

" Yeah, I feel like shit too." Bo closed her eyes and put her hands on her forehead. She felt dizzy, as if she just banged her head on something hard. She tried to focus on something, but she just couldn't.

Bo got off the couch and tried to stand up, but she tripped. She knew Tamsin caught her before she hit the floor, but she blacked out after that.

10:00 am - Apartment 1006

Bo opened her eyes again. This time she was lying on the bed. Most of her dizziness was gone, but she still felt exhausted.

She turned around and saw Tamsin, who was sitting on the bed beside her, reading the case files. The Valkyrie was fully focused on reading. She didn't notice that Bo was awake.

Bo moved a little. Then she realized that Tamsin was holding one hand of hers. Not only she was holding her hand, but she also intertwined her fingers with hers. While reading, the Valkyrie subconsciously caressed Bo's hand lightly with her thumb.

Bo was startled and she stopped moving. She didn't want to scare away the Valkyrie.

She closed her eyes, and fell back to sleep again. The warmth on her hand had comforted her. It made her feel safe.

1:00 pm - Apartment 1006

Bo woke up again. This time she felt a lot better. Tamsin was still sitting beside her.

" What happened to me?" Bo cleared her throat and asked.

" You blacked out."

" Then?"

Tamsin stared at her with the you-know-what-happened look on her face. She paused for a few seconds, then she said, " I juiced you."

" Oh." Bo touched her own lips. She immediately blushed when she tasted the blonde on her.

" Where did you get that hickey on your neck?" Tamsin asked with her eyebrows frowning.

" Huh?" Bo couldn't figure out what she meant.

" The hickey, on your neck."

" What hickey?" Bo was confused. She looked at Tamsin, making sure she was not messing with her. Then she walked to the bathroom to look in the mirror. There was a dark hickey on the right side of her neck.

" I have no idea." Bo walked out from the bathroom confused.

Tamsin frowned. " The station just called me. The last victim didn't have any lovers. They didn't find any evidence pointing to the presence of another person other than the victim at the crime scene either, yet he had a fresh hickey on his inner thigh..."

" And?"

" I was checking the earlier report. Both of the other two victims had hickey on their arms..."

" Wait, you are not thinking my hickey was made by the killer, are you?"

" You feel dizzy and exhausted. You blacked out when you stand up. You looked pale." Tamsin said, " All are symptoms of excessive blood loss. And we already know the killer is some sort of blood sucker."

" Well, I was with you the whole time. Unless you were the vampire, it's just impossible..." Bo said. She climbed back to the bed and sat beside the blonde.

" This is just strange." Tamsin said, " We assumed the victims knew the killer, because there were not signs of force entry, nor struggle, but we couldn't find a connection between them, other than they were all tenants of this place. Now you... No one visited us for the past two days, so whoever it is, didn't knock on the door for sure..."

" What do we do now?"

" Let's see if we can draw the killer out tonight. If it was the killer who made the hickey on you, he might be coming tonight again."

11:00 pm - Apartment 1006

" Aren't I supposed to sleep on the couch?" Bo said.

" We don't know what the killer does yet. I can't risk not having you in my sight. If I stay in the living room, it would be too obvious." Tamsin said.

" Ok then." Bo crawled up and lied beside Tamsin.

Tamsin turned off the light. They both stared at the ceiling in the darkness silently.

" Do we have to be like this?" Bo finally spoke up.

" Like what?"

" You know what I'm talking about, Tamsin." Bo took a deep breath and continued, " Does it have to be this awkward? I meant what I said the other day."

" Huh?"

" The day we first-"

" Shhhh..." Tamsin interrupted her by pressing her finger on Bo's lips. She raised herself on her elbows and grabbed her gun under the pillow.

Bo stopped talking. She could hear something in the living room, like something was flying. The noise was very light. She couldn't have heard it if she was sleeping.

Tamsin got off the bed and pushed lightly on the door to the living room. The door cracked open.

Both of them were shocked. Instead of any suspect they pictured in their minds, there was no one in the living room but a flying fireball. It was the size of a baseball, hovering around the living room.

What the hell is that? Bo said to Tamsin silently with her eyes wide open staring at the fireball.

No fucking idea. Tamsin was shocked too. She cocked her gun.

The fire ball was disturbed by the clicking sound of the gun. It stopped in the air for a second or two. Then it flew directly towards Bo and Tamsin.

" Shit!" Tamsin cursed. She grabbed Bo on her waist and shielded her from the fireball. She fired a shot.

The fireball stopped moving. Tamsin was ready to fire another shot, but the fireball just dashed to the door and went through the lock. It vanished.

" Did you see that?" Bo asked.

" Yeah! A fucking face in the fucking fireball!"

" I think I know that face."

" Me too. It's the leasing office bitch! No wonder why you got attacked the first day we moved in! How would other people even knew we moved in!"

" I think it's time to call Trick, and the police station."

2:00 am - Apartment 1006

" It's a Soucouyant, Bo." Trick said on the phone, after he went through a lot of books and let Bo waiting on the phone for almost an hour. " It's an under fae who feeds on blood. It usually takes the form of an old woman and lives nearby. At night, it will take off its skin and turn to a flying fireball. It travels through the keyhole of the locks on the door, and sucks blood from the victims. It usually feeds on several different victims per night, and it takes several days to drain a victim. Normally you will find hickey like wounds on the victim's neck, arm, leg or other soft spots."

" Yeah, that's it. How are we gonna kill this thing?"

" You'll have to find its skin. A Soucouyant keeps its skin in a mortar in her place. You need to put coarse salt in it so the Soucouyant can't put it back on. You have to do this before dawn, so...not much time left for tonight now."

" How do we even know she would stay outside her place till dawn?"

" There is a way to trap a Soucouyant." Trick said, " Pour some rice at the road intersection of her feeding territory. A Soucouyant is forced to pick up the rice grain by grain. That should buy you some time."

" Ok, salt, rice, got it!"

3:00 am - Apartment Complex

" Since you have her address now, you can go to her place and do the skin thing. I'll stay here to make sure she is trapped by the rice." Bo said to Tamsin when they were pouring the rice to the intersection of the road.

" I can't leave you out of my sight right now. Who the fuck knows what else the fireball can do." Tamsin said, " We'll do this shit together, ok?"

" Ok." Bo smiled to her.

3:20 am - Apartment Complex

" Will this actually work?" Tamsin whispered to Bo when they were hiding behind the bushes not far from the intersection.

" Trick said it would. We'll see." Bo whispered back. She paused for a while, then continued, " Hey, thanks for-"

" Shhhhhh!" Tamsin stopped her, " The fireball is coming!"

They both stopped talking. The fireball flew from the north side of the building. It hovered around the road intersection for a few seconds. Then it stopped and changed its form to a human-like thing. The thing crouched down and started to pick up the rice.

" That was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen! It's like a woman without her skin!" Bo said.

" I've seen worse. Come on, we have a skin to destroy."

6:00 am - Bo's Front Door

" Glad we got to her skin on time, right before dawn." Bo said.

" Another boring case..." Tamsin yawned as she pulled over in front of Bo's place.

" We make a good team." Bo looked at the blonde, smiling.

" You feeling ok?" Tamsin looked at the brunette. She tried hard not to look too concerned. She did not want the brunette to know how scared and concerned she was when Bo blacked out.

" Yeah, I guess, except I got kissed by an old wicked woman..." Bo rubbed the hickey with her hand, as if she wanted to make it go away.

" I think I can help with that." Tamsin said.

Bo looked at her confused.

Tamsin moved Bo's hand away from her neck. Before Bo could react, she laid a light kiss on the hickey. " There, old wicked woman kiss cleansed."

Bo was startled. She didn't say anything, nor did she move.

" Feeling better now?" Tamsin smirked.

Bo blinked. Then she leaned over and pressed her lips lightly on Tamsin's. She pulled herself back before the blonde did anything.

" Just returning the favor." Bo smiled, enjoying the look on the Valkyrie's face.


A/N: Thanks for all readers/reviewers! Hope everyone enjoys this story so far!

There are a lot of different versions of Soucouyant. Pretty much she's a witch/vampire creature. She practices black magic and stuff. In some versions, the victims will turn into Soucouyants. Certainly we don't want Bo to turn into some old lady monster, so I make it as the victim eventually dies.

In other versions, the Soucouyant can use the victim's skin after she kills the victim. However, I'm not sure what will she do with her old skin if she gets a new one.