With the items lined up on the kitchen counter and Vicki safe in the bedroom, there was nothing left to keep Henry from starting the spell, but still he hesitated before he bent and faintly drew the pentagram on the kitchen floor. He kept the size as small as he could while allowing enough room for a man's head in the center. Then drew an outer circle connecting the five points and around that he drew the last circle with sea salt. He placed a black candle at the tip of each point and lit them in order, going from the top and moving counter clockwise chanting the words of an ancient spell. When the last candle was lit he was ready for the blood offering. Holding the hilt of the sharp dagger in his right hand he wrapped the left hand around the blade, then he focused his will on the spell and the one he was calling up. Just before he drew the blade across his palm he heard Vicki gasp as if in pain. He opened his eyes and saw two pieces of flatware that she had thrown into the sink. They landed in the form of a cross and Henry understood that by completing the spell and calling forth a demon he would be no better than Norman Bridewell, the one who had called forth a demon and placed the marks of evil on Vicki's arms.

Henry's foot moved forward to break the lines of the circles and pentagram when he heard a voice in his head say, look into the center of the pentagram. Glancing down he saw the linoleum cloud over with smoke from the burning candles and an image of one of his early paintings became visible. The voice added, Not all that comes from the other world is evil but it's better to avoid further attempts to contact the dark forces or you could lose the one you truly love. The pain she feels is real, go to her. With that said, the the image faded and Henry's foot continued it's forward movement obliterating the symbols.He blew out the candles and went to Vicki.

She looked up at the sound of her door opening and felt his weight on the bed before actually seeing him, "What's wrong?"

He reached out for her hand, squeezed it in both of his then released it saying, "Nothing's wrong now. There could have been if I hadn't stopped in time."

She held out her arms palms up so the marks were visible, "They're throbbing."

Henry placed his cool hands over them and said, "I know. I heard your gasp as I was about to complete the spell. I opened my eyes and saw the cross in the sink."

"What cross?"

"You threw your silverware in the sink after eating."

"So?"

"They landed in the form of a cross and I realized that there was a risk if I called on a demon for help."

"Now what?"

"Everything that's happened since the child died is connected and you need to find that connection while I'm gone for the day. Try to talk with the child's father and talk to Rajani, maybe she's learned more from Dave."

"Is she interviewing him or doing an autopsy?"

"Knowing her, it's both."

She watched him as he traced the marks with his fingers and frowned. Vicki let out a slow breath and said, "Tell me what you're thinking."

"You and I aren't to blame for these marks, but we'll be suffering the consequences for ages. We can never summon help using the dark arts."

Vicki pulled her arms back and said, "I've always relied on myself and my skills as an investigator. We don't need the dark arts. Come on Henry, we can do this. Share your ideas with me."

Henry glanced up to the ceiling before saying, "I do have some ideas, but before we talk about them, use today to get as much information you can, then we'll put it all together tonight." He pushed her back on the pillows, laid down beside her and brought the covers up their chins adding, "I want to hold you while you sleep."

Vicki smiled, "Would you like something else first?"

"I won't say no to a quick bite, then I'll hold you close and think until sunrise. I promise will get to the bottom of this soon."

She mumbled, "So you say," as he used just a touch of his power to lull her to sleep after he had taken a taste of her.

Henry allowed himself a few minutes to enjoy the very human luxury of cuddling her close before he got down to some serious thinking.

Just before dawn he got up and went to her computer to do an internet search for the painting he'd seen in the mist. He was surprised to see that it was in the city's art museum. He wrote a quick note and taped it to the monitor.

Vicki woke up to the smell of coffee and was out of bed before she could grab her glasses. She saw a note taped to the bedroom door. There won't be many more mornings for you to enjoy coffee, so I started a pot for you.

Vicki smiled through her morning grump thinking what a choice, having Henry or having a cup of coffee. She'd take Henry over coffee any day. She thought about it a bit more and decided she'd better eat as many of her favorite foods as she could before he turned her.

After two cups of coffee, a piece of toast and a shower, Vicki sat down in front of her computer and found Henry's second note:

1. We need to know about the child's father and mother.

2. Any connection between the police officers that died in the last two months - (look for the

odd or unusual).

3. We're going to the art museum after I've eaten.

Vicki grabbed her notes on the death of the little girl and called the phone number listed on the incident report. She managed to reach him and asked if they could meet somewhere and a time and place for early the same afternoon was agreed upon.

She then called Dr. Mohadevan and after two rings she answered the phone greeting her with a cheerful, "Vicki, your friend Dave and I have been having quite a discussion. He's told me ever so much. Will you and Henry be stopping by tonight?"

Vicki glanced toward her closet door, "He asked me to talk with you today and depending on what happens later tonight he told me to tell you that he would be by sometime next week to discuss a few questions you might have."

Rajani Mohadevan replied, "Well if he said that, I'm sure it will be quite appropriate for me to tell you what I've learned from Dave."

Vicki waited a few heartbeats, then said, "Rajani, start talking."

Mohadevan lost in thought, stared questioningly at the phone then said, "Dave definitely died of natural causes. A heart attack pure and simple, but the thing is, I'm not sure it didn't happen sooner than it should have. All the ground work, such as heart damage, diet habits, and high blood pressure, has been taking place for years. Why it led to his death yesterday is not so clear. Now that I think about it, that was the unusual thing about all the natural deaths of the police officers. The illness, disease or chronic conditions were all there, but their conditions hadn't been critical at the time of death. As for the shootings and accidents, they were what they were. Sorry I can't give you anything else."

"Okay. I'll tell Henry what you told me and he'll be contacting you soon."

Vicki shook her head over the facts. Knowing that something was there but she just wasn't seeing it.

She then placed a phone call to Mike.

He answered with his usual, "Celluci"

Vicki said in response, "I hear you're still answering the phone with a smile in your voice."

Mike made a rude hand gesture to the phone and asked, "How's the blood sucker?"

Vicki made an equally rude gesture and warned, "Don't start."

Mike picked up a pen to keep his hand from upping the ante and asked, "You got something for me?"

"Not yet, but soon. We'll be working on it tonight. Have you looked at the duty rosters for the cops that died? Were they on the same day or near the accident site?"

"I checked, and nothing overlaps. But I did e-mail you what I found out along with the vital statics on each one of the officers."

"I'll look'm over. Henry and I will be going out for a couple of hours tonight, so if you get anything else, call early."

Mike scowled into the phone, "He doesn't take you out with him when he gets his dinner does he?"

"Mike, that's none of your business. Live your life, and Henry and I will live ours."

"Vick! That's the point, damn it. I want you living and him dead."

"Get over it. Henry's a big part of my life."

Mike said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll call or e-mail later." He hung up the phone and stared at the picture of his wife and son, then opened the center desk draw to look at a picture of Vicki and him on one of their rare fun days. It was taken at a mutual friend's house during a back yard picnic. They'd laughed so hard that day, then he spoiled it by asking her to marry him. Soon after that she got her diagnosis about her eyes. The fights got louder and the laughter stopped. He reached in and turned over the picture and placed some papers on top of it.

***

Vicki opened her e-mail and started reading the vital statics for each of the dead officers. By the time she got to the sixth name she picked up on one thing they all had in common. She kept going back and forth between names, a pattern began to develop and she wrote down her conclusions.

Vicki glanced up at the clock and made ready to meet the child's father at a park near his apartment.

Vicki saw him sitting as far from the swings as he could and still be in the park. As she got closer to the park bench it was easy for her to identify the man she was looking for by his slumped shoulders, wearing baggy clothes, pasty color and long uncombed hair.

As she said, "Mr. Monroe," he looked up with blood shot eyes, down turned mouth, and a patchy beard. He nodded yes.

Vicki pointed to the place on the bench beside him, "Mind if I sit?"

He shifted slightly and shrugged.

"Thanks for agreeing to seeing me. I know it must be hard to talk about the accident and the loss of your daughter, but I'm trying investigate a situation that might be related, and I could really use your help."

Mr. Monroe started whispering and Vicki had to lean in close to hear his words.

"Fay asked to come to the park and swing, I said yes and told her to wait until I got my shoes on. She yelled back, I'm a big girl daddy. I'm going by myself." She ran out laughing. It was in the late afternoon in this quiet part of town and we rarely saw cars moving on the road. She darted out into the side of a police cruiser. She was barely bumped, but to be on the safe side, they insisted she be seen in the ER. Later that same night, I brought her back home, read her a story and tucked her into bed. The next morning she was dead and no one knows why, but I do. It was my my wife, her mother."

Vicki frowned, "Why her mother? Where is she?"

"Her mother, my wife, died when our daughter was almost two. Faith never told me she didn't have long to live when we married and getting pregnant sped up her dying. She warned me to be very careful of our daughter, that something was going to happen that couldn't be stopped if I didn't keep a close eye on her."

Mr. Monroe opened his jacket and pulled out a picture of his wife holding a beautiful child and gave it to Vicki. She looked at the picture for a few seconds and then handed it back saying, "They're almost too beautiful to be real."

"I've wondered why would such a plain guy like me would have such a perfect wife and daughter. Faith died shortly after this picture was taken, and Fay died the same day as my wife, seven years later."

As he stood up he said, "Thanks for listening. Everyone else is tired of my story and keep telling me to get over it and move on." He started walking way then stopped and turned, "You're the one I needed to tell." He took a few more steps and turned toward the trees.

Vicki remembered she didn't give the picture back, called out, and got up to follow him. Because of her poor vision and the sun in her eyes she was not sure which way he had turned. She waited a few minutes and tried calling his apartment, but between the time she made the appointment and the time they met, his phone had been disconnected. Angry with herself, she made her way to his address and knocked on the door which swung open to emptiness. All signs of recent occupancy were gone. She hunted down the manager and he told her that Mr. Monroe had moved out the day after his daughter's funeral and didn't leave a forwarding address.

Vicki called Mike and asked him what information he had on Monroe to which he replied, "I've been looking for him since you told me about the accident. The weird thing is there's no record of them existing before the accident or after the funeral. I've seen the tape, talked to the officers involved, and the medical staff that took care of the girl after the accident and later the postmortem examinations. Other than that, there's nothing to prove they ever existed. "

Vicki hung up the phone and went back to check her browser. There was nothing on the computer anywhere to indicate Monroe's address and phone number ever existed. She went back and checked the police reports and made sure of the facts then she called the funeral home and asked about the arrangements for the little girl. She had been cremated the same day and the father took the ashes with him.

Vicki was doing a more intensive computer search for school and employment records when she heard the closet door opening. She looked at the window, saw the street lights come on then turned back in time to see the vague outline of Henry making his way to the bedroom. She stood and followed close behind.

She sat on the bed and watched a blurred Henry as he selected his clothes for the evening and said out loud, "Crap!"

Henry looked down at his nude body, raised an eyebrow at her and said, "I'm usually greeted better than that!"

"I can't see you and that pisses me off. So bite me."

Henry's eyes turned black and he moved closer as he said, "Thanks for the offer."

His black eyes and white fangs filled her field of vision as she said, "I wasn't offering. You wanted to go out tonight after you fed."

He pushed her back and placed a knee on the bed and grinned around his fangs, "Dining in seems to be a good idea."

"And what am I supposed to do while you're feeding?"

Henry crawled forward, straddling her, "You could relax and enjoy my attentions. After we go to the museum, I'll stop at the restaurant of your choice so that you can have a meal of your own."

Vicki placed both her hands on his chest, "Not so fast, vampy. I've got to tell you what I've learned today, and if you feed from me, I'll be too tired to be of much use tonight."

Henry growled deep in his throat, pulled back his body and his fangs, "I hate when you're right." He slipped off the bed and grabbed his clothes and said, "Find something better to wear. Art museums should be shown the proper respect."

Vicki was about to protest when she remembered the coke she knocked over earlier. The brown stain on her shirt didn't bother her, but she knew from past experience, Henry could be very fussy about appearances. She found a clean shirt in her closet, changed, put in some hoop earrings and took a swipe at her lashes with a mascara wand. Henry handed her a suede jacket that matched his.

"When did I get this?"

He shrugged, "When I bought mine, I saw one in your size, and I got it for you at the same time."

Vicki put it on and said, "Not bad." Doing her best to show fangs she added, "Look out world, the night walker and his mate are on the prowl."

Henry licked the nape of her neck as she walked out of the apartment ahead of him and said, "My patience is coming to an end."

Vicki said, "So's mine."