DARK DREAMS
Chapter 4: Under Arrest
He woke up rested for the first time in weeks. As he rolled over, he realized immediately, that he was not in his own bed. Panic rushed through him for a moment before a look around told him he was in Felina's apartment. Memory flooded back and with it renewed anguish. 'How could he face everyone when they learn he was the 'park vampire?' Should he arrest himself? What should he do now?' His thoughts were chasing themselves with no solution in sight.
"Uncle, how are you feeling?" Felina asked as she came in the room from the kitchen fully dressed for work.
Feral startled then looked up at her. Felina felt her heart squeeze at the distressed look on her uncle's face.
"What time is it?" He asked hoarsely. Trying to gather his shattered wits about him.
"You've slept the clock around Uncle. It's already five in the morning. You really needed the sleep." Felina said gently. "Why don't you take a hot shower, then we'll discuss what needs to be done about you and the case." She urged him, tugging a little to get him moving.
Shaking himself, he let her lead him into the bedroom. "Here's a towel. I guess you will have to wait to shave and change clothes when you get to your office. I'll fix you some breakfast." Felina said briskly and left him alone.
He stood in the middle of the bathroom for a moment trying to regain his usual self assurance. Turning on the shower, he let it get very hot before stepping in. The heat of the water relaxed muscles he hadn't realized he'd been holding tightly. He firmly put aside all thought and focused only on the soothing motions of getting ready for work to steady him.
Dressed once more in his rumpled clothing and feeling marginally better, he headed for the kitchen where the smell of breakfast wafted on the air. Felina smiled at him as she set a plate of eggs, bacon and toast before him. She set down a similar plate for herself and added two cups of coffee before joining him at the small table. The meal was eaten in silence for which Feral was grateful. It gave him time to come to grips with what they needed to discuss. As they leisurely drank their coffee, Felina opened the conversation by laying out a plan of attack.
"The way I see it, Uncle, you will have to admit you are the 'park vampire'. When it's released to the public that it is a curse you suffer and that you will offer recompense for the injured Kats, we tell them that a cure is being sought and you will be confined during full moons until it is found. This will go a long way toward garnering the city's sympathy for you and retain the Enforcers reputation." She said calmly.
Feral stared at her in surprise. Her plan was insightful and the most likely to prevent any scandal to the Enforcers while retaining his reputation. He always thought of his niece as bright and this was further proof of her ability to think strategically. He felt warm and proud of her.
"Thank you, Felina. That is a very good plan." He said warmly.
"I'm sure you would have thought of it, Uncle, if you weren't so upset and weren't the focus of it in the first place." Felina said gently.
"Well I guess we better go in and face the music. I'd best call my attorney" Feral sighed.
"Yes, that's a good idea and I'll inform the prosecutor. I don't see a reason we can't do this in your office without dragging you to the processing area. If we can do this quickly and quietly, we can have you be incarcerated within Enforcer Headquarters without resorting to a cell. Then get a judge to view your case immediately so that you can plead guilty and get sentenced that way we can move on to returning you to duty without too much disruption. All parties should be satisfied that justice has been served and we can close the case." Felina laid out their plan of action. Feral nodded agreement. She smiled, got up to remove the dishes and squeezed his shoulder in a show of solidarity as she passed behind him to put the dishes in the sink.
Sighing, Feral got up and went to use the phone. Thirty minutes later they were heading for Enforcer Headquarters in their vehicles. Parking in his Commander spot, he got out and waited for Felina. When she approached him, he surrendered his keys and other personal belongings to her keeping. She nodded grimly and gestured he should go ahead of her. The prosecutor and Feral's lawyer were waiting for them just inside. They nodded at him seriously and they moved as a group for the elevators.
In his office Lt Commander Steele waited. He, unfortunately, was the next in command and had to be present when Feral was arrested and charged. This was done quickly and professionally. Steele insisted that Feral wear a monitoring anklet. Felina bristled at that but was over ruled by the prosecutor.
"It's necessary, Lt, if we are to show we are serious about the charges and carrying out our duties. We don't want anyone to think we are showing favoritism even though we are a little by doing this here and not downstairs." Prosecutor Manlore said calmly. Felina subsided realizing he was right but not liking it. Feral's Sergeant handled the fingerprinting and other processing requirements and then attached the anklet.
"Alright, now that that's taken care of, I'll let your Sergeant be your guard and you can take care of business until we go to court later today. You are not allowed to leave your office. Consider it your temporary cell." Manlore smiled grimly. "Is that understood, Commander Feral?"
"Yes sir. What time is my court hearing?" Feral asked quietly.
"I don't know yet. We have to notify the injured parties and get them to be there too. Judge Fangmore has already been briefed. As soon as all parties have been contacted, I'll let you know when to appear." Manlore said as he prepared to leave. He signaled Felina to follow him. He needed to get her deposition before returning to his office. After they left, Feral narrowed his eyes at Steele.
"Despite what's happened, Steele, I'm still in charge. Since I can't leave my office and my Sergeant is required to stay and guard me, you will act in his stead." Though it didn't show on his face, Feral was amused as Steele's mouth gaped in shock at being relegated to gofer duty. His amusement didn't last as he pondered the hours and days ahead. Shaking himself mentally, he settled down at his desk and dug into the reports waiting him. The report on himself had already been confiscated by Felina.
By late afternoon there had been no word from Manlore. Before he could become concerned, Felina contacted him. She said there was some trouble getting all parties there at the same time. It looked like it might be tomorrow before he would get his hearing. She also told him that Dr. Sinean was going to be there as a defense witness describing the family curse and her progress on finding the cure.
"Uncle, I'm headed to city hall now to brief Ms. Briggs so that the Mayor isn't blind sided when this reaches the press. Dr. Sinean was nice enough to come with me to explain the curse to the Deputy Mayor so that she can get a press release prepared. So far we've been able to keep things quiet and it seems to be working." Felina informed him.
"Alright, Felina. It seems you have things well in hand. Thank you for keeping me informed. Will you be coming back to Headquarters soon?" He asked.
"I'm sorry Uncle, the prosecutor wants more information and I have to go track it down. I can call later. Do you need some things from your apartment?" She asked.
"Yes, but later will be fine, Felina. Thank you." Feral said. Felina said goodbye and they both hung up. Sighing, he stood up and stared out the windows for a while.
Later that evening, Felina brought her Uncle dinner and some things from his apartment. Snow had volunteered to take over evening guard duty. Even though he wore an anklet monitor, because of the seriousness of the charges and his position the extra security was thought to quiet any complaints about Feral's easy treatment. He was escorted to the quarters he used when staying at Enforcer Headquarters. He hoped he could sleep. It was going to be a long night.
The next morning, Feral's hearing was set for ten o'clock. He was escorted there unobtrusively and hustled into Judge Fangmore's courtroom. As hearings went, this one was quickly accomplished, all parties were satisfied, and his sentence was light. Since it wasn't his fault, he received no jail time and only community service aiding rape victims at a rape crisis center for ninety days. Relieved that was over, Feral returned to duty.
The news of his curse, however, was cause for rampant gossip amongst the Katizens of Megakat City and a little fear that he might still commit an act of rape and violence if he should manage to escape his jailers during the full moon. The press had a field day speculating on the ramifications of having a cursed Chief Enforcer running the Enforcers. Until the fervor wound down, Feral had to put up with being hounded by the press, nut cases that wanted him to bite them, and worried katizenry. It didn't make his job any easier. Fortunately, their attentions veered away from the Commander a few days later when the Pastmaster decided to storm the city. By the time he had been defeated and returned home, Feral's difficulties seemed trivial and quickly faded from the public conscious.
Relieved the spotlight was off him, Feral returned to a semblance of normalcy, but he couldn't forget that he was a ticking bomb just waiting for the full moon to set it off. Refusing to let it worry him since it was pointless to do so he carried on as if nothing was different.
Enforcer Headquarters, day of the full moon...
He'd been suffering those awful dreams for the last few nights but he knew why they were occurring now. It didn't make it any easier to take though. By that evening he was tense and irritable as Felina and his Sergeant escorted him to a heavily fortified cell. He shivered when the door clanged behind him. There were only three other prisoners in the cell block and they had watched him nervously as he was placed in the cell.
Feral paced around the cell nervously, his body burned and twitched. He'd never been awake during the change and he was afraid. He had asked Felina to please not watch and, reluctantly, she'd agreed. As the moon began to rise, Feral felt the tension build in his body, it seemed as if something was trying to get out. Moments later, he screamed as fire raced through him and his mind was shoved out of the way for something more primitive and cunning.
As the change finished the creature discovered it was locked in. Waves of fury poured through it as it repeatedly tried to break down the door. It's loud screams, roars and pounding attempts to escape, frightened the other prisoners as they huddled in their cells.For hours until moon set, everyone in the cell block had to listen to the maddened creature then finally there came a pained scream followed by moaning then silence for the rest of the night.
Feral woke in the morning, exhausted, naked and with a pounding headache. His clothes were ripped to shreds. He dragged the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around himself, sat and waited to be released. Felina arrived with fresh clothes and waited patiently while he dressed. He found it hard to put one foot in front of the other as he staggered out of the cell.
"You need to rest Uncle. It's obvious you can't function after the night you had. I'll take you up to your quarters and inform Steele you're down for the morning. Perhaps by lunch you'll feel up to returning to work." She said as she walked with him out of the cell block. He merely grunted his agreement, too tired for conversation.
For the next two nights, the ordeal was repeated. Feral always needed at least six hours to recover before the next night's torture. By the fourth day, he was back to normal. He was desperate for the cure. No way did he want to spend month after month suffering like that. But the cure seemed as elusive as air despite Dr. Sinean's focused effort to ferret it out of all the ancient tombs she had at the museum. All she could offer the distraught Commander was her willingness to continue to search no matter how long it took. He had no choice but be satisfied with that.