"Hey, wait a minute! Henry would never hurt anyone!" Coreen came to Henry's defense quickly.
"Did I SAY it was Henry Coreen?" Mike said as he turned back to Vicki.
"You implied it," Coreen shot back. Mike sighed, nervously ran his hands through his hair and realized she was right, he had implied it was Henry. He would have to deal with that later. Right now, he had more pressing matters at hand.
"Look, I need your help. We've got three dead bodies and they all look like that little incident we had before with the.." Mike was using two fingers and pointing to his neck as if making fang motions.."Aww..you know Vic. Don't make me say it."
He was referring the case with Christina and her newly turned vampire. That had been a tough case and one Vicki hated thinking back to. She wanted to kill that bitch so bad it hurt and yet Henry had saved Christina. Vicki's heart lept and stomach churned at the picture of Christina feeding from Henry after she was burned. The vivid memory made her sicker to her stomach than she already was.
"Alright Mike but.." Vicki suddenly felt dizzy again and then she felt nothing. She was on the floor with a thud before Mike could catch her.
"Vicki!" Mike cried out as he rushed over to her. Coreen was stunned to the point of impairing her thinking skills and ability to react to the situation. Vicki Nelson never passed out. She didn't even think those words went together in the same sentence.
"Coreen, call 911, quickly!" Mike ordered snapping Coreen out of her stupor.
"Vicki, hey, Vic, can you hear me?" Mike asked frantically as he checked her vitals and was relieved to find they were good. Vicki fainting was rare but better than some serious illness. Before the EMT's arrived, Vicki began to rouse by slowly opening her eyes and was suprised to find that Mike and Coreen were staring down at her. With the worried looks on their faces, she quickly realized she was on the floor.
"What the fuck happened?" were Vicki's first words, the delicate flower that she was. Attempting to sit up was not fruitful due to her head feeling as if it were on a pottery wheel. She was forced to lie on the floor for a bit longer and she let everyone know she was less than thrilled about being incapacitated. It wasn't long before she could sit on her own and other than a sore spot where she'd hit her head on the floor, she felt fine. Trying to convince everyone else was futile.
"I'm fine, really. I just think I haven't been eating enough," Vicki did not want to go to the hospital. She cursed, yelled, tried convincing and even threatened the EMT's with violence at which point they told her they would sedate her if she didn't calm down. Deciding she didn't want to be knocked out with medication she stared at Mike as he insisted she go just to be sure. Vicki flipped him the bird as they wheeled her out. Telling Coreen he would go with her, he asked her to call Henry.
"I guess you should call the bloodsu..." he saw Coreen start to scowl and corrected himslef, " I mean, uh...call Henry's answering machine and let him know what's going on. It's probably his fault anyway," Mike mumbled as he followed the EMT's out of the door. Mike could hear Vicki's loud protests right up until the last click of the second ambulance door.
"I've GOT somewhere to be! Look, I'm fine," Vicki emphatically waved her arms around.
"Ma'am, you fainted.You're not fine, you seem to be a little anemic and your blood sugar has dropped, have you been eating properly?" the man asked.
"No, I know that's what it is. Give me a sandwich and let me stay," she insisted. They both told her no and the last thing that Mike heard was.."Celluci, I'm gonna kick your ass.." as the doors shut.
He knew she probably would too.
Another meeting, elsewhere in Toronto
"So, is it set?" The man nodded toward the dark figure.
"Yes, I intercepted her appointment and convinced her to see her at a later date, I will meet with Vicki at the park. Why can't you just do this yourself? I mean you do have special ways of doing things," the man reminded his employer. He knew because he himself had been an unwilling participant in the activities. He was willing at first but then it became so violent and hurtful, he begged it to be stopped to no avail. What had he gotten himself into? he often wondered. And yet strangely, he was drawn to it all.
In an instant, he was in the air held by one hand at his throat. His feet dangled in the air while his hands clawed at his throat trying to get the death grip of the hand that held him there pried away so that he could open his airway. The hood fell away from the head of the person who was now attacking him.
Christina was vamped out, her eyes full of rage at this stupid young man. She had come immediately when she found out Henry had stayed and that he was with the human woman. Her contacts shared the information as soon as they knew knowing it would anger her and she would feel the need to intervene. Luckily, she'd found this willing young man who wanted to get into vampires not having a clue as to what he was asking. The man thought it was all mythical and cool, as he had told her. Christina had quickly put him under her spell and convinced it how not cool it could be but now, it was too late. He was hers to do her bidding as long as she wanted.
"I told you, my presence would be felt if I got close to them. I could do damage but not with Henry so close. I need her alone, unprotected. Henry will kill me if I show my face or I wouldn't need you now would I? I should just kill you now and get someone else to do the job, you're pathetic!" she hissed and growled at him. His eyes bulged out, his face turned blue and silently, he pleaded for his life. She dropped him with a thud when she knew he was close to death by strangulation or a crushed trachea. Coughing, he put his hand to his throat and rubbed it. If he knew where her daytime resting place was, he decided he would have staked her while she slept.
"Look," he sputtered, "she will come. I know her, she will come. She is mad now, I heard it in her voice." he was certain this angry woman would show, his life depended on it at this point.
"I hope you're right, I tire of waiting," Christina turned to leave.
"Wait, where do I take her?" he asked.
"Call me when you have her, I'll tell you then," and she was gone in a heartbeat.
"Bitch.." the man mumbled struggling to his feet. It was just seven thirty. It had only been dark for thirty minutes when Christina had found him. He hated her for this, making him feel like less than a man. He had enjoyed her attentions at first, the sex and the feedings. His mother worried but he was beyond caring, he was addicted. Now, however, he might just have to give her over to the other vampire she was so afraid of but what guarantee did he have that the male vampire would help him? He would have one Vicki Nelson, that would be his guarentee. But is that what he wanted to do? He would decide when he had the woman in custody who would pay the higher price.
AT THE HOSPITAL
One very angry Vicki sat on the edge of the hospital bed signing papers to be released. Mike leaned against the doorframe waiting for the bomb to drop. Vicki kept eyeing him letting him know she couldn't wait until they were alone.
"Ms. Nelson?" a nurse came in rather hurriedly.
"Yes?" Vicki looked up from signing papers to see a worried looking nurse.
"Umm...well there's one test that did come back that you should be aware of," she handed her a sheet. Vicki scanned it and didn't understand.
"What?" Vicki handed it back to her.
"Well..uh.." the nurse looked back at Mike, then back to Vicki.
"Don't mind him, I'm kicking his ass later, what is it?" Vicki smiled.
"You're pregnant," she finally said. Vicki's mouth dropped and as she looked at Mike, who was now as shocked as she was, saw a sight that nearly made her faint again.
Henry was standing right next to Mike and they men were now staring at one another.
Vicki's eyes went wide, "Oh shit..."