Chapter 78

As soon as Kahlan had the feeling that something wasn't right with her husband, she tried calling him. When the call went to voicemail after five rings, she huffed. Is he just driving, or has something happened to prevent him from answering?

She shook her head and went to her den and brought her laptop to life. After she got the software booted and traced his phone, she frowned. What the hell are you doing in an alley, Aaron? She stared at the screen as her mind zoomed through many different scenarios; and no matter how much she wanted or wished, none of them were benign, and her head hurt just from the possibilities.

After several agonizing minutes and the signal not showing any movement, she bit her lip and brought up her husband in her contacts again. Come on, Aaron! Answer the damn phone! As she raised the phone to her ear, she had to bite her lip again to stop it from trembling as she sucked in a raged breath.

The first ring had most of her muscles clenching.

The second ring had her knuckles turning white from gripping the phone, and had she been thinking rationally, she might have been worried about bending the thin device.

The third ring with still no answer had her stomach hurting even more than her head.

The silence before the forth ring dragged on in what seemed like twice the normal time, and she knew it was dread exaggerating every microsecond, and she jumped up from her seat because anxiety wouldn't let her sit still any longer.

When the fifth ring sounded in her ear, frustration made her kick her foot out in anger. When the wooden leg of her desk cracked, she winced, but her worry forced it from her mind as she ran to the house phone and the land line that wasn't hardly ever used anymore.

Pick up the phone, pick up the phone, pick up the God damned PHONE! she kept repeating mentally as she hit number one for the speed dial on the house phone all the while praying that her husband would answer the cell phone in her right hand.

When a voice almost as familiar to her as her own answered, it made her heart soar, but yet, since it was just a recording, her heart immediately sank. A tear slipped down her cheek. Oh my God, Aaron, what's happened?

"Hey. What's going on at the Hotchner home tonight?" Rossi's voice came through on the house phone as soon as the call connected. When he heard Kahlan's swallow through the phone, he sat up straighter as he sat his drink down. "Kiddo?"

"Dave. . ."

He stood up in a rush. "I'm coming. I'll. . ."

"No!" she yelled to stop him. "I'll send you an address. Meet me there ASAP!"

"You know it," he told her as he grabbed his coat and keys. "And Kahlan?"

"Yeah?" she asked weakly as she started for the door.

"Breathe, Kahlan. Just breathe. Everything will be fine," he assured her. While he had no idea what had happened, he knew it had something to do with the man he loved like a son. He also knew that man was supposed to be out with his vampire family, and he prayed it wasn't anything too serious. Knowing Kahlan wasn't the type to get overly upset over trifle things, though, had him praying that his statement didn't turn into a lie.

As he drove, he shook his head. Praying? Really Dave? Does that even work for a guy's who a vampire? He sighed and pressed the gas pedal down a little harder. I don't give a shit if it works for vampires or not! It's me praying that nothing's wrong with him and that's asking God to help me because he and I both know I couldn't handle it if something did happen to him!

When Dave got to the address Kahlan had sent him, he looked around and then cringed when he saw Kahlan's car and Chuck's Jeep blocking the entrance to an alley. What the hell are we doing here? He was really hoping that Kahlan was taking him to wherever the vampires had taken Hotch.

As he half ran into the alley, his hand unconsciously found his pistol on his hip, but he shook his head and released it. He wasn't sure who all was in the alley, but he knew that if the problem was of supernatural origin his pistol probably wouldn't help all that much. He mentally smiled though, as he past Chuck's Jeep. But my new pistol may be of some use. With the world he found himself submerged in, the pistol loaded with silver bullets had become his back-up pistol. One never knows when something like that may come in handy.

He slowed himself down and forced his lungs full as he went around Kahlan's car to try and calm his heart down, but when his eyes, which were always in profiler mode, took in the scene in the alleyway, his heart felt like in leapt into his throat. Son of a bitch!

Kahlan looked pissed but tears were silently trailing down her cheeks, Chuck had a supportive hand on her back as he talked on his phone, Cameron was busy on his laptop, and Michaela was taking pictures. What the occupants of the alley were doing wasn't what disturbed him the most, though. What really disturbed him, what had his stomach clenching in fear, was the evidence that something seriously wrong happened in the alley. Several coins, Hotch's keys, and Hotch's phone were scattered about but they pinpointed where the man should have been, and that became the epicenter of his worry.

Years of training allowed him to push that worry aside and focus on the scene as if were part of a case and then he mentally cringed. He really didn't want to think of the man he both physically and mentally called 'his boy' to be missing and his belongings as part of a crime scene, but he knew he had to. He sent up another prayer and moved to his unofficial daughter-in-law.

She turned before he got to her and as soon as her eyes locked with his, he could see the desperation and anger that had hers filled, and he had to dig deep to find his voice. "What do we know?"

She huffed as she shook her head. "Nothing other than Aaron's stuff is here, and he isn't."

When his eyes shifted to her hand, the lump in his throat felt like it grew tenfold. The item that would have led them right to him, Hotch's high-tech watch, was gripped firmly in her fist.

When her head turned away from him and another tear rolled down her cheek, he reached with a paternal hand and slowly turned her to make her look at him again. "What else?"

She took a stumbling breath and stood up straighter. "There's blood," she started as she pointed to a small puddle and the drips that surrounded it. "Cam has someone coming to type it, but. . ."

Rossi moved away from her and towards the offensive liquid. He squatted down to study it even closer and then looked around the rest of the alley.

"I'm sor. . ." Cam started but Kahlan raised her hand to freeze him on the spot as she watched Rossi with intent eyes.

When Rossi finally stood up, he had a small smile on his face. "I don't think it's Aaron's."

A sigh fueled by relief escaped Kahlan, but Chuck frowned. "How do you know that?"

"If he had died or even just hurt there," Rossi started as he pointed to blood. "Then that stuff would be over there, too," he added as he moved his hand towards the items that normally filled Hotch's pockets. "I would say Hotch happened on something, possibly someone being attacked, and then something else happened," he finished and the confidence in his tone made the tightness in Kahlan's chest loosen just a little bit.

Cam huffed. "And knowing the type of man Hotch is, that's a very viable scenario."

Rossi nodded, but Chuck frowned some more. "Then where the hell is Hotch? I mean, come on, with what. . . with him being who he is now, if he came upon something, then he could have handled it with ease."

Kahlan's eyes darted around the darkened alley.

"Could that detective who is supposed to be in town have anything to do with it?" Cam asked.

Kahlan's eyes snapped to his, but Rossi immediately started shaking his head. "No. Sebastian would never. . ."

Kahlan ran a hand down her face. "Hunters," is all she muttered.

Rossi's eyes widened in fear as he moved to her and placed firm hands on her shoulders. "Is he still alive?" He hadn't thought to ask either Hotchner if the seemingly mystical connection they shared had been affected by Hotch's change, but he was suddenly worried that it had been. "Can you still tell?" he asked and the desperation in his voice surprised even him.

"I think so."

She teared up even more and the doubt in her eyes made his chest tighten, so he placed gentle hands on her cheeks and forced a smile for her benefit. "Then he is."

"But. . . what if. . ."

He gave her a stern look. "Stop. You and I both know that you and Aaron. . ."

"I found Hotch's car," Chip yelled as he ran into the alley. "It's a couple blocks down parked in front of a convenience store."

Kahlan snorted in disgust. "I text him and asked him to stop and pick up ice on his way home."

Rossi mentally sighed because he could hear the guilt oozing out of her tone. "It's not your fault, Kiddo. Him stopping for ice probably doesn't have anything to do with this!" he insisted as he gestured to the evidence on the ground.

She rolled her eyes. "And yet if he hadn't have stopped to get ice, he wouldn't have been anywhere near this damn alley and whatever was happening here."

Rossi looked at Cameron. "Has anyone called Sebastian? Maybe he can shed some light on this."

Kahlan nodded and then started to follow Chip back out of the alley. She looked back to make sure Rossi was following. "I called him. He said Aaron left over an hour ago, and he hasn't heard from him since. He did say he was on his way, though."

Rossi nodded as he followed them. Maybe he can use that connection he has with Aaron to find him.

Kahlan stopped and then looked at Cam and Michaela. "I want this fucking alley swept with everything we got!"

"Of course," Cam agreed.

"I could call in a SCU," Rossi offered.

Cam shook his head. "I already have one on the way." He looked at his watch. "ETA is about five minutes."

XXX

Kahlan shook her head as she studied her husband's car. A bag of ice was on its roof but with as cold as it was, she wasn't sure it would melt no matter how long it sat there so she didn't think they could use that to figure out how long her husband had been missing.

Chuck came out of the store shaking his head. "The lady inside remembers him, but she didn't see anyone with him and nothing strange happened."

Kahlan shook her head again. "Damn it!"

Rossi inhaled deeply as he rubbed his fingers down his goatee. "It couldn't have been hunters."

Her brows furrowed as she looked at him. "What do you mean?"

He half shrugged. "Sebastian and the Schewels down in Hawaii made it sound like all hunters do is go around and kill creatures. If they had killed him, his body would have been in that alley."

Her eyes darted around as she considered his words.

"Are we even sure what happens to his body when he dies?" Chuck asked them. When their looks told him they weren't following, he winced. "Well, I've seen some movies where they turn to dust after dying."

Kahlan's sigh was heavy with worry. "I guess that's something else we'll have to ask Sebastian."

Chuck nodded and then answered his phone. "We'll be right there." He looked at his companions. "Sebastian and some other guy just showed up in the alley."

Kahlan straightened and took a deep breath. "I really hope they can help us figure this out."

Rossi nodded as he gestured for her to go first. And God help them if she suspects them of any wrong doing. Cause while no one else may have been able to see it, he had caught a glimpse of a thin wooden stake stuck down in her left boot hidden under the bunched up tactical pants she was wearing.

He mentally shook his head. The supernatural world does not want her as their enemy.

XXXXX

A rough bounce made Hotch moan. There wasn't a part of him that wasn't stiff and sore, and when he tried to swallow, the slight metallic taste accompanying what seemed like severe dehydration in his mouth made his tongue feel too thick, and he moaned again. When he tried to open his eyes, his eyelids felt almost as thick as his tongue, so he tried to rub them, but his arms hurt way too much to move. What the hell? Did I get drunk last night or something?

Another hard jar jolted a groan out of him, and he cringed. Where the hell am I and what the hell is going on?

"Ut-oh. Looks like our vamp is waking up, Danny. What do you want me to do?" Reese asked from the back of the van.

"What?!" Danny yelled as he turned around so quickly that he almost spilled the can of soda he was holding. His eyes narrowed as they studied Hotch and his buddy, and then he sat his drink down in the center console and made his way to the back of the van. "I have never seen a vamp wake up that quickly from dead priest's blood."

"Maybe it really wasn't from a priest. Maybe that guy ripped us off," Reese suggested. It wouldn't be the first-time hunters had swindled them. "Maybe that's why he acted so funny from it in the beginning."

Danny smirked. "As much pain as he was in, that blood has got to be powerful," he reasoned as he filled the huge syringe again.

"Maybe it's old and has lost some of its potency, and that's why its wearing off so quickly," Riley offered from the driver's seat as he watched them in the rearview mirror.

"Maybe," Danny put in and then rolled Hotch onto his back eliciting an even louder groan from him. He looked at Reese. "Hold him down and readjust that cowl before he really comes out of it."

Hotch could hear them speaking, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out who they were or what they were talking about. He again tried to open his eyes, and when they finally opened a slit, all he could see was a dark blurry mess. Why is everything green?

Under the effects of the toxic blood, he couldn't remember that he had been abducted and then put in the back of a cargo van and that the van's dash lights were causing the eerie glow.

As Reese held Hotch's shoulders down, Danny unbuttoned a couple more buttons on Hotch's shirt.

"Do you think we'll have enough to keep him out for the whole trip?" Reese asked as Danny readied the long needle right over Hotch's heart.

"If not, we can make a few stops along the way." He took a deep breath and then pierced the needle into Hotch chest only making the vampire wince. When he started the plunger down, though, Hotch screamed as his fangs jutted out from his gums.

The searing pain cleared away all confusion, too, and the reality of his situation slammed into him. Shit! Oh yeah, fucking hunters have me! He didn't have long to suffer, though. Since he was still so weak from the first dose, he was back out within seconds.

Danny threw the end of the cowl over Hotch's chest and then looked at Reese. "You sit up front and try to get some sleep. I think one of us are going to have to be awake and watching him the whole way."

Reese nodded as he got up. "It's a shame we don't have any way to tie him up or something."

Danny huffed as he settled onto the bench seat where he could watch Hotch closely. "The cowl and the blood have always been enough before, I have no idea why it isn't working this time."