A/N: I just want to tell all of my fanfic readers here thank you so very much for reading and reviewing. It's greatly appreciated and although I am by far the best writer around, I feel very fortunate to have so many enjoy my writing. It means more than you'll know..Suzi
Vicki's cell rang before a still stunned Henry could say anything.
"Hey Mike..." Henry scowled upon hearing his name. Vicki listened quietly, scowled and then said, "thanks, I'll tell him" as she hung up.
"Seems our police force needs your expertise," Vicki told him.
"Really?" Henry raised an eyebrow.
"Yep, got another body, this one is not completely dead though," Vicki announced.
"What do you mean 'not completely dead'?"Henry asked.
"Someone saw a woman being attacked, said a 'vampire' was killing her," Vicki explained.
"They always blame what they don't understand," Henry mumbled. Jagger had been killed very violently and whatever did it seemed to be on a killing spree with witnesses now saying it was a vampire. JUST GREAT..Henry thought to himself. He had so much other going on, this was only adding to his issues at the present time, something he certainly didn't need. His mind wondered for an instant, could Christina be alive? then thought immediately no, not a chance.
"What makes her think it was a vampire?" Henry asked.
"She said she saw his fangs when he pulled away from the woman's throat." Vicki snorted as she gave Henry the address Mike had given her. Driving as quickly as possible, Henry was hoping to avoid any public display or knowledge of whatever it was that had occurred.
Upon arriving, Henry sensed something close but couldn't make it out just yet. It almost felt like the presence earlier at his condo. The woman was on a stretcher ready to be loaded into the ambulance. Mike stopped them as he motioned Henry and Vicki over.
"Guys, give us a minute, special case here, my..friend Mr. Richmond has dealt with these types of cases," Mike shrugged. Everyone left leaving just Mike, Henry and Vicki with the woman who was terrified beyond all imagination.
"Mr. Richmond?" Henry asked with a snort and a head shake.
"Hey, it's all I could think of, give me a break wouldja? Now, can you 'convince' her to remember anything?" Mike whispered as he leaned over the woman. The poor young woman thrashed about and mumbled loudly about the vampire, the fangs, the eyes. Her throat had not only been punctured but ripped as well, as if being torn open like a piece of meat off a bone. The injuries were very similar to Jagger's.
Using his otherwordly voice, Henry questioned her, "Who did this to you?"
"Va..vampire, he..he attacked me..and he..said...he said..that he was hungry.." she was shaking and writhing as if in immense pain.
This was most upsetting to Henry. He had killed in his lifetime too for survival at times to keep his identity secret in the event he felt threatened by the outside world but to see a poor human attacked like this and left in this condition was inhumane. Henry always romanced his victims so that they were relaxed and enjoyed themselves as well. He hadn't much anymore since being with Vicki but he would never do this, not even in an emergency feeding. Henry wiped her mind helping her to settle down tremendously. He checked her wound himself to see that yes, it was a vicious attack and one that wasn't done with ease but with aggression and inexperience.
"Mike, I must warn you, if this truly is a vampire attack of some sort, she may turn."
"Turn as in..turn?" Mike made fang motions with his fingers by his mouth. Vicki stifled a laugh at Mike's gestures. " Wait, don't they have to have your blood too?" Mike narrowed his eyes.
"Not necessarily.." Henry frowned. Henry explained that in rare cases, a vampire's bite in severity like hers could cause a partial turning. The newly turned vampire would thirst for blood but be unprepared to deal with what was happening almost to the point of insanity. Without a sire, they would go insane. It was different from what Christina had done to her last victim but dangerous and hurtful nonetheless. It was almost a zombie-like vampire. They had no control over themselves, only a hunger and thirst that needed to be satiated.
Mike became very animated and distraught. He waved his hands around then ran them through his hair.
"Whoa, whoa! We can't just say hey, she might turn into a nightwalker, can ya keep an eye on her for some fangs and a hankering for type O? What the hell do we do?" Mike's voice was almost shrill and he was attracking unwanted attention.
"Mike, shut the fuck up! Everyone is staring," Vicki said through gritted teeth. They all agreed to let Henry tell the EMT's to take her to the morgue while having them tell dispatch that the woman had expired. Vicki's car was still there anyway and she wasn't keen on leaving it overnight. Henry decided he would ride in the back for safety's sake. As Vicki started to get into Henry's car, Mike stopped her.
"Hey, you two got things worked out huh?" he bobbed his head toward Henry.
"I don't know Mike, we'll see and for the record, Rajani is pretty certain Henry is the father, just so you know." Mike's mouth fell open but before he said anything, he closed it. He smiled and patted her arm. Vicki knew that revelation might hurt him but she wanted him to hear it from her first.
"Congrats I guess," he mumbled as he left. Staring after Mike, she felt a twinge of guilt for the way she had told him and in knowing that the white picket fence with two point five kids was something Mike dreamed about with her and now, it was with a man Mike virtually despised. Part of her did feel guilty but part of her felt happy. Vicki never saw herself as a mother but now that it was thrust upon her, she thought could get used to it. Still, there was the issue of working things out with Henry, the vision of Christina with him and where the hell Christina's body was and most importantly, who did this to the young woman? The instinctive feelings Vicki was having weren't motherly at that moment but she hoped one day they would come to her.
Sadly, Vicki might not get to know what having those maternal instincts felt like..