Woodlands Luxury Apartment, Bullfinch Street, Manhattan, New York City, 2002.
It had been a few months since the events of the Farm rebellion and it had been a little difficult trying to recover from those events. A few weeks after Snow had been shot, she finally woke up from her coma and she was currently taking it easy while recovering in the hospital. As for me and Casey, our status as mates had become well known in Fabletown and Gren celebrated by buying drinks for us. Holly teased us and I didn't think Casey could blush any harder from all the praise. As for the Rebels, a trial was currently being prepared and those who were involved in the rebellion to take down Fabletown were given the choice of hard labor or permanent prison time...as for Dun and Posey of the Three Little Pigs, they were sentenced to prison until a trial was held. Finally, Goldilocks was currently wanted for committing terrorist acts and the attempted murder of Snow White, though she had gone off the grid and we were struggling to locate her.
All and all, it was still going to be a while until things would settle down and life would go back to normal. Bigby and I were in our office and currently lecturing Briar Rose about causing an incident at a Mundy jewelry store.
"This is serious, Briar. You fell asleep again, in the middle of Tiffany's," Bigby stated gruffly, puffing on his smoke.
"I couldn't help it, Bigby. I pricked my finger on a diamond pin at the jewelry counter," Briar explained sheepishly.
"Causing the entire sales floor to fall asleep with you? Customers and employees alike?" I questioned with an arched brow.
"Unfortunately, that's the way the old enchantment works. First I prick my finger on something and fall asleep, then everyone around me falls asleep, and then the thorn forest starts growing around whatever building I happen to be in," Briar told us.
"Well...we got seriously lucky that the Mundies think some kind of gas leak caused it. Look, Briar, you need to figure this out because we cannot have another incident like this happening again, especially among the Mundies," Bigby lectured sternly.
"I don't think the enchantment cares where I am or who I'm with...I thought it had ended for good back in the Homelands when Prince Charming kissed me, but all that apparently does is reset the spell back to its starting position. It's an endless cycle," Briar stated bitterly.
"My advice to you is that you should watch where you're walking. You're still are wealthy enough to hire some workers so that they can remove all of the rough edges and sharp corners. And make sure to wear thick gloves when you go out," I advised calmly.
"That might work while winter lasts, but not when spring comes," Briar stated and I sighed.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Briar. You need to find a solution to this problem or another incident will happen," I told her just as someone knocked on the door and Boy Blue opened it to peer inside.
"Sheriff, Deputy. Excuse me for interrupting, but Trusty John needs you outside," Boy Blue notified us.
"Christ above...what is it this time?" Bigby grumbled as we stood up and went to leave.
I put on my jacket and we followed Boy Blue to the front doors of the building. Trusty John was waiting for us out in the snowy weather.
"What's going on John? Is something wrong?" Bigby inquired.
"I just wanted to inform you two that a Mundy gentleman is waiting outside the front gates," John said as he pointed to the man in question.
"Um...we don't see what's wrong with that. Mundies pass through Fabletown all the time, so they don't know that this place isn't part of their city," I stated in confusion.
"Except that this one asked for you two by name," John told us, causing Bigby and I to look at each other in confusion.
"Hold on...we're gonna go see what the hell is going on," Bigby said as we went to go talk to the man with glasses and a receding hairline.
"Okay...you have our attention, so what's your story?" I inquired when we approached the man.
"Mr. Wolf and Mr. Pierce?" the man asked.
"That depends...who are you and what's your business with us?" Bigby questioned while puffing on his smoke.
"Oh, I know it's you two alright and I know everything about the both of you. I'm Tommy Sharp and I write the Sharp Comments Column. Perhaps you two have read it?" Tommy inquired.
"Yeah, I've read about you. You're damn good at your job, so what's your business with us?" I asked curiously.
"I'm here because I've been working on a story about your underground community. I've put in the hours, checked and double checked the research, and done the legwork," Tommy stated proudly.
"Okay, so why are you here?" Bigby wondered while we looked at each other with dread.
"I know all your secrets and as a journalistic courtesy, I've decided to reveal myself or come out of the shadows, so to speak, in order to give you two the opportunity to respond before I print my story," Tommy explained.
"Um...do you think you can clarify because you are not making any sense at the moment," I stated and hoped that he wasn't suggesting what I thought he was suggesting.
"You and your friend can use that evasive tact all you'd like, but I know what I know. You're a community of immortals...probably. In any case, everyone in this place has been alive for centuries, tucked away in this quiet little corner of the city. Your group has owned everything on this block since back when New York was called New Amsterdam...I've got records, I've compiled personal histories, and I've dug up pictures of a number of you that date back to the very beginning of when photography was created, and not one of you has aged a day. As for you Mr. Pierce, I looked up your name and the only thing I could find was records of your military service in Vietnam, but nothing else," Tommy explained, Bigby and I staring at the man dubiously.
"So...let me guess, this story of yours is going to be published between the big "Elvis is an alien" expose, and the latest installment of "I had Bigfoot's baby"," Bigby remarked in amusement.
"Mock me if you like, but the three of us know that I'm going to win a Pulitzer prize with this. Hell, maybe even the Nobel prize for being the first to come up with undeniable evidence about the existence of your kind," Tommy declared, Bigby and I huffed in amusement.
"And just what do you think "our kind" is exactly?" I inquired, humoring the man.
"Vampires, of course," Tommy replied.
"You're not fucking serious? Wait...oh my God, you're serious," Bigby laughed while I was struggling to keep my composure.
"A group of immortals with incredible powers who pass themselves off as normal humans? I've read Anne Rice and I'd seen the movies. It all fits. You two provided the final piece of evidence that would convince everyone. I followed you two and a woman on one of your after-hours stroll to Central Park. I watched one of you strip down and all three of you assumed the forms of two giant wolves and a fox for a midnight run. That's what vampires can do, right? They change into animals, so seeing it was the final piece of evidence that convinced me you were vampires. You two didn't see me, did you? Thanks to my telephoto lens, I was able to stay far away," Tommy stated as Bigby and I stared him down.
"And yet you were stupid enough to get within easy reach of us now?" I questioned, feeling impressed that this man had the balls to confront us like this in public.
"Only in the daytime when you two have no power over me. You can't mesmerize me, you can't hurt me...um...can you?" Tommy wondered nervously.
"You're crazy...you really think people will believe you? Pictures can easily be altered on the computer," Bigby stated with a scowl after he snuffed out his smoke.
"Play it that way if you insist, but you and Mr. Pierce don't have long to get your sides of the story on the record before I publish," Tommy warned, causing me to glare at him for threatening us.
"You know what, asshole? Go to hell, because what you are doing is slander and if you publish that crap, it'll be libel and I have half a mind to sue you if that happens," I stated sternly.
"Here's my card. Call me if you change your minds, and don't think for a moment that either of you can catch up to me after the sun goes down. I know how it works...I'll be safely home by then and vampires can't enter my personal residence without my permission. I'm not afraid of you two, I'm really not," Tommy declared as he handed us a business card.
Bigby and I stormed into the building and I ran my hand through my hair out of anger.
"Fucking asshole! Bastard has a hell of a lot of nerve threatening us like that!" I snapped in outrage while I took a few deep breaths to calm down.
"I know, but we need to deal with this problem before Mr. Sharp is able to expose us," Bigby stated grimly as we went to gather a few people together.
"We have a serious problem...if Sharp's expose is published, our life in this world is effectively over. Even if no one officially believes the story, enough crazy Mundies, and Goth vampire wannabes will," Bigby said darkly while Bluebeard, Jack, Flycatcher, Bufkin, Casey, and Boy Blue listened.
"So what's the problem? We should kill this guy just like that poor bastard who found out about us in the twenties. I know how to make it look like a suicide," Bluebeard offered, but I shook my head.
"That's not how we do things anymore, even though I was very tempted to do it in broad daylight. We now live in the digital age where Tommy Sharp is too well known on the internet, and everything is connected through information. Even if we kill him in a way that no one suspects it to be murder, there's no guarantee he doesn't have somebody holding on to the evidence and who will release it on the internet if something were to happen to Mr. Sharp," I pointed out.
"Shouldn't Miss White know about this, since she is the Deputy Mayor?" Boy Blue wondered in confusion.
"Snow's still recovering from being shot, so any kind of stress wouldn't be good for her right now...and not to mention that we could quite possibly be committing illegal activities. As long as she's still recovering, it's better that she doesn't know about this," Bigby stated gruffly while he lit up a smoke and puffed on it.
"So, what do we do?" Flycatcher asked us.
"You two look like you already have a plan in mind," Bluebeard pitched in.
"We need to move fast tonight, but first we have to find out where Prince Charming is staying at these days...and we'll need Briar Rose's help," I said calmly.
"Sleeping Beauty? Why? What do you both have in mind?" Jack inquired curiously.
"A plan worthy of a person such as yourself Jack, except that this one has a possibility of success. When you tried your Dot Com scam four months ago, just how good did your computer skills get?" Bigby asked and Jack started to reply.
After explaining the plan, Bigby, Bluebeard, Casey, Jack, Boy Blue, Bufkin, and I located Prince Charming and Briar Rose to explain the situation. Then, Charming drove Rose to the hotel where Sharp was staying at and he met up with us nearby.
"She's in," Charming notified us.
"Copy that...now we wait," I whispered.
"Then can we wait back in your car? In case you haven't noticed Nate, it's fucking freezing out here," Jack complained while he was rubbing his gloved hands.
"Suck it the hell up, Jack. We need to be patient until the time comes...we have to give Briar Rose's enchantment time to work. As its effects spread out, everyone in the building should fall asleep. Every person in every apartment along with their dogs, cats, gerbils, and parakeets will be out cold, and that is when we move," I told him while we heading to the building. When we got there, we joined Bigby, who was leaning against the wall, lighting up a smoke.
"We thought you were cold," Bigby remarked as Jack and Casey came over to stand next to us.
"Bluebeard won't let me smoke in Charming's limo. Can I bum a smoke off you?" Jack inquired, prompting Bigby to hand him a smoke and light it up.
"When are you going to learn to support your own disgusting habits?" Bigby wondered.
"It's been almost an hour now. Can we go in?" Jack asked impatiently.
"Not now. If we go in too soon, then we'll fall under the sleeping spell ourselves," I explained while Casey leaned against me.
"How will we know when it is safe?" Jack asked.
"We'll know because Deputy Pierce and I will know, then we'll tell the rest of you," Bigby stated.
"So...does this nut job actually think we're vampires?" Jack wondered in confusion.
"Apparently so...the man is such a dumbass for coming up with that. I've been called many things over the centuries, but I wasn't expecting to be called a vampire by a Mundy," I remarked.
"That's kinda cool...if we were vampires, we'd all be rich," Jack commented.
"Yeah? How so?" Bigby inquired.
"Think about this...vampires make more vampires just by sucking people's blood, right? You know how much these Mundy fucks would pay to someone who could make them immortal?" Jack told us.
"Okay Jack, you get that damn thought out of your head," I said sternly.
"What? I was just thinking-" Jack tried to defend himself.
"You just realized that you could make use of the same old pictures of yourself and the rest of us that Sharp found to convince gullible, rich Mundies that you are a vampire and cheat them out of their money," Bigby accused.
"What?! How did-" Jack sputtered.
"Jack...have you forgotten that we've known you for centuries? We've gotten to know you well enough that we fully understand how you think, so get that thought out of your head or we'll have you locked up for a century," I warned firmly.
"Dammit, guys!" Jack cried in disbelief just as I noticed thorns starting to grow up the tree that was next to us.
"Quiet, Jack. The thorn growing phase has just started," Bigby pointed out and said, "It's time to go in."
The plan was for Bigby, Casey, Boy Blue, and I to go into Sharp's apartment to get the evidence while the others get the security tapes and made sure no one walked into the building. Eventually, we made it to the seventh floor and arrived at the apartment. Jack broke the doorknob and we entered the apartment. Casey and I were told to watch the hallway and wait until the others got what they were looking for.
"So, the only two Fabletown cops breaking the law in order to keep the community safe...who would've bloody thought," Casey remarked and I chuckled.
"Yeah...talk about irony at its finest," I agreed just as Bigby exited the apartment with an unhappy expression.
"We have a serious problem," Bigby stated.
"Oh, crap...please tell us that you and the others found the evidence?" I asked hesitantly as we all entered the apartment.
"We found the evidence and Jack deleted the ones on his computer, but we're pretty sure Sharp would've backed up all of his files about us and stored them somewhere else," Bigby notified us grimly.
"Motherfucker...of course he did. Well, is there any way to find the backup?" I inquired.
"Unfortunately no. Jack told me and the others that Sharp sent several cryptic emails and visited several people before he approached us, so we have no idea who he may have trusted with this information, if anyone," Bigby said, and I threw up my hands in frustration.
"Goddammit. So much for this being easy...well, time to inform Bluebeard about the bad news," I said reluctantly, knowing that things were going to get ugly.
"Jesus, Bluebeard! Put that fucking gun away!" Bigby shouted in disbelief as Bluebeard aimed a gun at an unconscious Sharp, causing me to pull out my gun and aim at him.
"Why? Since we can't be certain we've destroyed all of Sharp's files, we need to implement a more drastic solution. So, let's kill him and be done with it," Bluebeard suggested coldly.
"Do you even hear yourself?! Think logically for a second! Sharp's not stupid and he probably made sure that if something were to happen to him, his accomplice would send all of the evidence to every news agency in the country! If there is one thing I had learned over the centuries is that not every problem can be solved with a bullet, so put the gun down!" I ordered firmly while aiming at Bluebeard's head.
Bluebeard scoffed and holstered the gun while he said, "Very well then...since you and the others don't have the stomach to make the harsh choices, then I won't force it. I assume you and Sheriff Wolf have an alternate plan to deal with this?"
"Actually, it's my plan," Jack chimed in after I put my gun away.
"Then it's sure to succeed, just like every other scheme you've concocted over the centuries," Bluebeard pointed out sarcastically as we all left the bathroom, where Sharp had fallen asleep on the toilet.
"Can the chatter. We have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it...Jack, you, Casey, and Boy Blue get Tommy Sharp ready for travel. Bluebeard, get back down to the lobby and make sure no one gets in since the entire population of the city could be down there right now," Bigby instructed.
"And I'd still be there if I had any confidence in you and Deputy Pierce," Bluebeard grumbled.
"So you keep saying, AD Nauseam," I remarked dryly as Bigby and I went to enter the Sharp's darkroom.
"What happened to you two since the Exile? When did they tame you both? Or was your formerly savage natures always counterfeit? A combination of bluster and deft public relations?" Bluebeard wondered.
"I've done things in my immortal life that I'm not proud of...now drop it," I warned darkly.
"Or you'll rip my throat out, or kill me, or blah blah blah? You and Wolf have said it all before, Pierce. Both of your constant use of "or else" has grown tedious. Hasn't anyone ever told you two that threats lose their impact when so often repeated without ever actually acting on one of them?" Bluebeard questioned.
"We haven't acted on our threats because you back down and will always do it. You might think you're a tough guy by butchering helpless married women or shooting an unconscious man who's on the toilet, but you are nothing more than a coward who hides behind a lifetime of wealth and privilege...believe me when I say that if we wanted you dead, you'll be dead. The only reason you are alive is that your money keeps Fabletown functioning, so watch yourself or do you want to test us? Because eliminating you would be doing the entire world a favor," I threatened coldly as we stared each other down.
When Bluebeard didn't say anything, I said, "That's what we thought...if you're done pissing yourself from fear, tuck your tail and be the submissive Omega that you are. Sheriff Wolf and I are the Alphas here, so it would be in your best interest to know your place in the pack."
We left the darkroom and everyone exited the apartment and took the elevator to the lobby. Arriving at the lobby, we left the elevator with Sharp and the evidence as Charming was lifting Briar up in his arms.
"Alright everyone, we don't have a lot of time so let's get out of here before someone notices the thorns covering the building. Make sure we got everyone and everything we're taking with us. The last thing we need is some Mundy cop to show up and see us moving bodies out of the building," Bigby said as we all left the building.
"How long are these thorns going to keep growing?" Bluebeard questioned.
"As long as Briar Rose remains asleep, I think. Did she gain weight since she left the Homelands?" Charming wondered as we headed to his limo and my car.
Bigby and the others went into the limo while Casey and I got into my car to follow them.
"So, what's next?" Casey asked as I followed the limo.
"All we can do now is try to figure out where Sharp sent the evidence and take it off any sites he may have posted it on...I hope we do or we'll be forced to resort to drastic measures," I stated uneasily as we headed back to the Woodland.
After we were done with locking up Sharp and waking Briar up, Bigby and I went down to see Tommy awake and groaning in pain.
"Time to wake up, Mr. Sharp," Bigby announced as Tommy sat up and clutched his head.
"Oh, God...my head. What happened to me? I feel like someone drugged me," Tommy groaned.
"Which is what we did, more or less," I stated bluntly, causing Tommy to quickly look up at us with a look of shock.
"Oh my God, it's you two! How did you get me?! What the fuck did you do?!" Tommy demanded.
"You may want to look at your neck," Bigby said as he handed him a small mirror, Tommy looking at the two puncture wounds on his neck in horror.
"Oh Jesus! What the hell did you sick bastards do to me?!" Tommy cried in distress.
"We're vampires, Mr. Sharp. You should know already what we did to you," I said stoically, and Tommy's eyes widened in realization.
"You drank my blood...oh Lord help me," Tommy breathed in disbelief.
"Calm down. We didn't drink enough to turn you into one of us so you're fine, but now we will be able to control you if we wanted to, and you've seen the movies to know how that works," Bigby said.
"I only wanted a big story...I didn't mean any harm," Tommy whimpered.
"This place is a private community where we want to be left alone, so we don't appreciate it when an outsider comes into our business and threatens to expose us. What do you think would happen if we were exposed? We would be hunted down by humans and they would kill us out of fear," I said grimly.
"What are you two going to do to me?" Tommy questioned nervously.
"We won't do anything as long as you keep our existence quiet. But if you expose us, then you will give us no choice but to make you kill yourself," I warned sternly.
"I didn't mean to cause any harm to you people...I liked you all and hearing your stories, it made me see that you all are people like me. I couldn't help it when I thought about how big of a story your community would be...I'm truly sorry for causing so much grief," Tommy reasoned.
"You won't be posting a story about us...and Mr. Sharp, if you already sent it to someone...if any part of your story gets out from someone else, you'll wish we killed you. We'll destroy your reputation, make your kids, your family, and both of your ex-wives hate you...and all of your loyal readers, too," Bigby stated as I handed him a brown paper bag and felt sick for what we were about to show him.
"Wh-why? How? What the hell are you two going to do?" Tommy questioned dreadfully while Bigby took out pictures from the bag.
"Take a good look at these and you'll see just how far we are willing to go," Bigby instructed as he handed the pictures to Tommy.
"Oh...God," Tommy whimpered in horror at the sight of Pinocchio doing sexual acts while Tommy was out cold.
"What have you done? What the fuck did you make me do?" Tommy asked quietly as tears welled up.
"That little boy in the pictures with you is immortal, over three hundred years old...but he looks no more than eight or nine, especially the way we dress him up," I notified him, struggling to keep my composure.
"I never did this...I'm not...I couldn't have," Tommy sobbed as he broke down in front of us.
"What will people think about you when this gets out? Even in our Libertine Era, this form of conduct is nothing more than revolting. Here's an extensive and detailed forensic interview with a child psychologist. Two solid hours of it, especially the part where he points out all of the places you touched him...he's very convincing," Bigby stated as he took out a videotape and placed it on the bed.
"You can't do this to me! This kind of thing, even if it's proven false, destroys a person's life!" Tommy shouted in distress while he laid down on the bed and curled up into a vulnerable state.
"Yes it does, but if you start to feel sorry for yourself, remember that you were the one to get yourself into this situation in the first place..." I stated as I went to leave.
I left the cell and went upstairs, entering my apartment on the second floor just as Casey followed behind me.
"Nate? Are you okay?" Casey inquired in concern, but I didn't say anything as I went to the bathroom.
I went in and immediately went for the toilet, kneeling in front of it and expelling my lunch out of sheer revulsion for what I had done. I felt Casey laying a hand on my back and rubbing it while I was heaving in horror and disgust at my actions. Once I was done, I flushed the toilet and headed to the sink to wash my mouth. I finished up and headed to the sofa to sit down. As Casey sat down next to me, I looked at my hands and trembled.
"Nate? Talk to me," Casey encouraged, causing me to look at her with a haunting expression.
"What the hell have we become? How far are we willing to go?" I questioned in self-loathing.
Casey didn't say anything, but just held me as I broke down, and comforted me as I sobbed and recalled all of the horrific things I had done in the past.
(One week later)
"You let him move in with you?" Bigby questioned dubiously while we stared at Briar.
"It's not like that. He's in a guest room," Briar stated.
"The biggest one, I suppose," I remarked as I signed a few case files.
"Sheriff Wolf, Deputy Pierce, can we please get to the part why I'm here?" Briar asked impatiently.
"We were just catching up on some paperwork when one detail kept bothering us about your incident back at Tiffany's. We had some trouble waking you up last week, but we never figured out how they woke you in that public store and how no one noticed anything odd about it," Bigby pointed out thoughtfully.
"One of the...uh...police officers who responded to the situation, he had German Shepherd...a very affectionate German Shepherd. I woke up to him licking my face," Briar explained while blushing.
"Let me guess, the dog's name was Prince?" I inquired while trying hard not to laugh.
"If either of you so much as tells anyone about this, I'll make you regret it," Briar threatened in embarrassment, much to our amusement.
I still felt guilty about what Bigby and I had done to Sharp, and I hoped the man would be okay since what Bigby and I did would stay with me for the rest of my immortal life. It seemed that he had made the decision to keep his observations to himself since we had heard nothing else from him since that night.
I turned my attention back to the case at hand with a sigh, and a small smile at Briar's admission about Prince. I guess Sharp wasn't the only one who could keep a secret.