Dreams Chapter 6, a companions of the night fanfic

Dreams

Chapter 6

"Hey Dr. R." Kerry called out, walking into the front room of the morgue. She was relieved to see he wasn't in his office. She didn't think she could face the scruffy chair and battered wooden desk he called furniture so soon after her heart-to-heart with Michel. The vampire had brought up a lot of things she had been running from, and she didn't need another reminder now that she was thinking about it almost constantly – that is, in what time she had when she wasn't trying to solve a mystery that seemed to go beyond her powers of deduction.

That afternoon, while she had been busy researching the list of vampires Michel sent her, Lucy had called for a status update. Kerry told her she would stop by to exchange notes with Dave once she found out more details about the cause of death. That was what led her to the morgue in the hour before sundown, seeing if she could find any new information that could help her track down a killer. "Doctor? Where are you doctor?"

"Kerry? I'm glad you stopped by," Dr. Roberts called out to her from inside the morgue. Though Kerry couldn't see him yet, it always pleased her when people recognised her just by her voice. It made her feel a certain level of importance. She walked through the metal doors and into the interior of the morgue.

"I just need a quote to insert in my article," Kerry told him, placing her trench-style jacket and large purse on a bench next to the door. She pulled out her BlackBerry and opened up the paragraph of her article she needed a citation for. "I've written, 'Medical examiner Dr. Edward Roberts is quoted as saying – insert quote –. The doctor first noticed a distinct lack of blood in Peter Anderson, the first potential victim, but was unable to draw definite parallels between the two bodies.' Is that okay?"

"Sure," he answered, obviously distracted as he took off the protection goggles over his eyes. "Oh, you need me to say something fitting? How about: the investigation is ongoing, but it appears as though Doug Harrison and Lenny Manning were killed in the same manner."

"Say something about the blood," Kerry urged.

Roberts gave her a frustrated glare. "Why don't you just write what you want and say I said it? Fine: in both cases, approximately six pints of blood were unaccounted for."

"Oookay," Kerry said, finishing entering the quote into her phone. She quickly scanned it over and immediately emailed it to Gallant so he could update her article and edit where need be. "Great. Thanks."

"Can I ask you a question now," he asked. He was still standing next to the body, looking down at it uncertainly.

"Sure," Kerry said, taking a step closer to him. She didn't want to see this body again, unsure whether she'd be able to keep herself from being nauseated. It'll be fine, she reminded herself. It was just the fresh crime scene which had gotten to her. "What's up?"

"I've been trying to think of an animal which could do this type of damage to the human body, and I thought..." he trailed off.

"Yes?" Kerry asked with an eyebrow raised.

His kind eyes came up off the body and locked with hers. "Do you believe in vampires?" he asked suddenly.

"Vampires," Kerry echoed weakly.

"I know it's foolish, but I was watching that vampire movie with Tom Cruise in it last night with Alice. You know what one I mean?"

"Interview with a Vampire," Kerry said with a nod. "It's one of my favourites." She was enjoying Roberts's level of discomfort over the conversation, but she was pretty anxious herself. Soon he'd stop babbling about how he had come to the conclusion that vampires had killed the men and expect an answer from her. She didn't know whether to tell him the truth – that vampires certainly had done it – or lie to him. It all came down, she supposed, to which scenario would keep him safer.

But was that really up to her to decide?

"The blood loss, the human teeth marks, the superhuman strength all seems to make sense." The medical examiner looked at her again, his eyes pleading for her to tell him he was crazy. Kerry knew the look well; it was the look of someone who wanted to stay in denial that the monsters under the bed were real. He didn't want her to tell him he was right. He wanted her say he was wrong. As Kerry realized this, he kept talking. "So I thought I'd ask you, since that incident eight years ago had something to do with vampires. Do you think they're real?"

"No," Kerry told him, her mind telling her this was the wrong answer, even as the words emerged from her mouth. "Vampires aren't real." She began to back away from him. "I need to go," she said, picking up her belongings from the bench and fleeing from the room. As soon as she was out of earshot, she picked up her phone and called Michel. This would be the third message she left him today, she reflected. So much for trying to avoid giving him a step-by-step update of her day by the hour.

"Hello?" he answered on the first ring, causing her to almost drop her phone in surprise.

"I didn't realize the sun had set," she blurted out, just as she hit the heavy metal doors to outside. The sun had indeed set, giving front street a soft glow from the street lights. She shrugged into her jacket as she moved down the cement stairs.

"You can call back and leave a message," he said in a clearly amused tone. "I was just about to listen to the first two you left. It'll be a threefer one deal."

"Haha," Kerry said, clipping down the sidewalk at a rapid rate. She passed the old Laundromat, and couldn't help but glance in. Since Michel and Regina had taken care of the old owner, it had changed hands a few times and ultimately became a flower shop. She was suddenly struck by inspiration as she passed by on the opposite side of the street. "Don't bother. I'm about to grab some supper. I'll meet you at the pizza place."

x.x.x

Kerry swirled her fry through her ketchup, her heart rate elevated with excitement as she waited for Michel to show up. That afternoon had been success on multiple fronts, except for maybe the part where Lenny Manning died. She had found a few ways to connect the victims, now that she could see a trend. With three bodies, any similarities between all of them were less likely to be a coincidence than they were with two. Her research had also yielded a suspect, which was the reason for her second call to Michel.

As she waited for Michel, she reviewed this all in her head, so sure she was missing something but unable to put her finger on it. She knew that Lucy and Dave were currently waiting for her at Ethan Bryne's old house, but this conversation seemed more important to her than meeting with people she barely knew to share her hard-earned information with them.

She had faith that if there was something she missed, Michel was intelligent enough to find it. She didn't have any idea whether Lucy and Dave would, but she was inclined to believe people were, on the most part, unintelligent until they proved otherwise. Four years at college had taught her that their level of education did not mean squat, either.

So lost in thought, she didn't see him enter the restaurant, but it didn't bother her as much as it should have. In all the years she knew him, he had snuck up on her a time or two. Of course, there was also a time when she could just feel his eyes on the back of her neck if he entered a room and looked at her.

"For all the interviews you do," he griped, sliding into the booth across from her and causing her to jump, "you have absolutely no phone skills." Today, he was looking even more like a particularly well-off college student, wearing a very stylish military-esque wool jacket and leather gloves along with his glasses. She was used to his many looks, having seen him fit in with crowds which ranged from upper class yuppie to homeless juvenile delinquents. Kerry was always amused to detect slight differences in his persona when he dealt with other people depending on which look he was going for. This Michel verged on being arrogant. Ethan Bryne had been good-natured and slightly self-effacing. Whoever he was, he was always a charmer.

Kerry smiled sweetly. "Hello. Would you like some coffee?"

Michel gave her a mock look of annoyance. "Not right now," he said dismissively. "I listened to your messages. You sounded excited in the second one. What did you find out?"

Kerry grinned, slurping her cup of Pepsi just to prolong the explanation. She enjoyed the way his eyes narrowed in exasperation. "The third body allowed me to compare and contrast. Apparently all three men were in the same middle-age bracket, the oldest 65 and the youngest 50, and all three of them grew up in Brockport, moved away for a few years for college or a job, but ultimately came back to start a family."

"Interesting," he mused. "What else?"

"Well, the rest is probably just small-town things. They all belonged to the same gym, but there's only one in town and they didn't go at the same times. As far as I can tell, Peter barely exercised, but Doug was a fitness nut – he was out for a jog during the 'animal attack' – so it's unlikely to be a motivating factor. I checked to see if they banked at the same branch and they didn't, Lenny didn't have a mortgage, and though they all had nice houses, they weren't in the same area. Oh, and all three had library cards, but I figure that probably is a coincidence since almost everyone in town has a membership."

"Hmmm. Single? Married?"

"Married, single, married and girlfriend."

Michel smirked. "Men are pigs." He paused for a second. "How'd you find out about the girlfriend?"

Kerry smirked back at him. "Wife said he was working late last night. Work said he left early."

Michel nodded sagely. "Ah, girlfriend. Do you think we need to find her?"

"Probably not," Kerry said, taking another bite of her fries. "We can let the police do it. If she had seen anything, she'd probably be dead. He did make it home from the date."

"That's true. But what if the girlfriend's the one who offed him?"

"She won't be at the funeral?" Kerry asked, raising her eyebrows at the fact he had thought of something she hadn't. This was why she needed him – he was smart, and he understood the darker side of humanity more than she did. He challenged her.

Michel was now looking thoughtful, ignoring her question. "And why didn't the wife hear anything? He was found in his living room, right?"

Kerry put down her fry at the memory of the body, suddenly not hungry. "She's a nurse and only got home around noon."

"Maybe she knew about the affair and hired someone to kill her husband," he suggested, musing out loud. "It must be difficult being away all night, only to have your significant other dally with another woman – or man."

"Can we not talk about this now?" Kerry asked, feeling her stomach churn.

"Why? Because you undoubtedly told Luke you were working late and instead you're here eating supper when he's getting ready for work, and will likely spend the night with me? I can see the parallels, but then you and I aren't having mad, passionate sex in his bed, either."

"No," Kerry said sharply. Damn him. "Because while a conversation about blood probably whets your appetite, it's enough to turn me off food altogether and I'm trying to eat."

"That's strange," he said. "I seem to remember blood turning you on."

Kerry made a face of disgust and pushed her plate away from her. "You're right," she told him. "Men are pigs."

"Hey!" he protested with a laugh. "Hate the game, not the players. You're the one who ordered fries and then dumped an entire bottle of ketchup on them. If you don't want to think about blood, you should have gotten something else. What's up with ordering fries in a pizza place, anyway?"

"I had a piece while waiting for you to arrive."

"Well, it didn't take me that long."

"I skipped lunch," she mumbled. "And probably breakfast."

"Ok," he responded with an amenable smile. "So your first phone call is off limits because we can't talk body-talk, we've already dealt with your second call, why the third?"

"I just came from the morgue. Dr. Roberts asked me if I thought vampires existed."

The change in his posture was almost indistinguishable, but she had spent a lot of time studying his every move, and though it had been a few years since, she still noticed the way he stiffened at the word. "And?"

"I told him they didn't, but I thought you might like to know."

Michel narrowed his eyes in thought. "Your good friend Dr. Roberts might be a good person to have on our side."

Despite the fact Michel was referring to the investigation, she knew he meant the 'our' to be more general than just the two of them. He was considering whether a medical examiner would be a good person to let in on the secret about vampires, especially if finding out was inevitable for the doctor in question. "Do you usually have contacts on the inside? Like government or customs officials, or police officers?"

Michel shot her a quelling look.

"I'm just curious," Kerry defended. "I think it would be cool, that's all."

He sighed. "Some of us do, but they're difficult relationships to cultivate since we're not the most law abiding, politics supporting people. A lot of times they enjoy the sensationalism when they're young, but once they mature they realize that aiding and abetting one of us is pretty much career suicide and they turn against us."

Michel was staring intently at her, as though there was something he was daring her to comment on. She took the bait. "So you end up killing them?"

He gave her a feral smile.

"Nicely illustrated," she told him. "I'm really getting your point, now."

"Good," he responded, toning down his cold grin. "I would rather not have to kill your good friend Dr. Roberts."

Kerry grunted. "I did some research on those names you sent me," she said, clearly changing the subject. "Tammy Fitzpatrick, formally Crissy Morgan from Philadelphia lived in the same neighbourhood as a rash of murders. The police had no leads, but the deaths stopped practically the same day as she moved here."

"Oh?" Michel asked with his eyebrows raised.

"But I figured if it was that easy, you would have already taken care of her, so I dug a little more and found she had been living with someone in Philly, someone who didn't make the move with her. Did they separate or did she have to kill her lover?"

"You are good, I'll give you that." Michel said ruefully. "We'll leave Tammy alone for now. When news of what's going on here reaches her, she'll probably end up running again."

Kerry ignored his compliment. "I'll try to dig deeper tomorrow if I can. Sorry I didn't get too far. Things turned slightly hectic today."

Michel was reaching to cover her hand with his just as Kerry's phone rang. He pulled away as she reached for her purse, looking at the caller ID just as Shake Tramp got to the second stanza. Michel had his lips pursed, trying not to show amusement at her song of choice. "It's Dr. Roberts," she told him in a hushed whisper, as though the caller could hear her through the unanswered phone. "Calling from the office."

Michel gave her a small wave, telling her to take it.

"Hi Dr. R." She said. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, not at all. I think I just cracked the case and I thought you'd like to hear about it. I've been doing research since you left here—"

"Tell him you'll come see him." Michel told her, interrupting the conversation. Sometimes, Kerry forgot how well he could hear.

"Hold on a second, Doctor," Kerry said. "My battery is running low. I'm going to come to you." She hung up the phone and looked at Michel as she stood, shoving the BlackBerry back in her purse. "Why am I going to him? He could have told me just as easily over the phone."

"You are not going in," Michel corrected her. "We're going in. If your good friend, the doctor, is about to tell you that vampires are real, I think I should be there for damage control. It's situations like this where humans get the wrong idea. They think all of us are savage killers that need to be put down for the betterment of the human race."

Aren't you? She thought about asking. Kerry stood from the table, grabbing her half-eaten fries to toss in the trash. Michel stood with her, opening the front door of the restaurant for her to walk out in front of him. In that moment he was the exact opposite of the image of a blood thirsty killer, with his disarmingly good, youthful looks and the charm he seemed to portray in the simplest conversation. She knew that in ways he was far more dangerous because of his looks, because no one looked at him and saw what he was capable of. She hadn't at first. In that situation in the Laundromat, she had believed every lie he had thrown at her, seen the fear on the surface because it was what she had expected, when in reality he had killed one of their friends.

"You've gone quiet," he comments, hands in his pocket despite the fact he had a fancy pair of leather gloves. She knew he was going for the disarmingly guiltless look to negate the bitterness in his voice from the last thing he had said.

"I was thinking of the night we met," Kerry said softly, not pointing out the flower shop as they walked past it. Either he remembered it used to be a Laundromat, or he didn't, but she wasn't going to bring notice to the fact.

Michel snorted softly. "It's a wonder you didn't jump right on the hunter bandwagon after that stellar show of humanity. Honestly, you saw some of the worst of it."

"Don't." She stopped him, not wanting to hear lies and justifications. "I've known who you are for a long time."

"Have you?" he asked cryptically, opening the heavy outer door to the morgue. She walked back in, death practically at her heels.

"Kerry, is that you?" Dr. Roberts called from his office.

"Yes," she said, stepping through the doorway. The doctor was on his computer, clicking angrily at the mouse. Since this was his normal computer habit, Kerry ignored his inability to use most technology and sat in the ragged old chair in front of his desk. "You wanted to tell me something?"

"Hmmm? Oh, yes. I was looking into what else could make a bite radius of that size and—" the doctor cut off his speech, looking up and spotting Michel lounging with his back along the door jamb. "Oh," he said, turning accusatory eyes towards Kerry. "You brought company."

"This is a friend of mine from out of town. We were having supper when you called." Kerry gritted her teeth, already knowing that Dr. Roberts would not say anything with Michel around.

"You know I don't like to share my theories with outsiders." The medical examiner put on his glasses and gave Michel a close look. "You look familiar. Have we met?"

"No," Michel responded easily, "but I lived in town for a while when I was younger. You don't have to worry about me. I'm not the one who's a reporter." He shot Kerry a teasing look, which caused the doctor to purse his lips in thought.

"I don't think of Kerry as a reporter. I think of her as the young student I hired for a summer job who managed to solve one of the cold cases I have from my time working in the City."

Kerry looked back and forth between Michel and the doctor, noticing that they were testing each other using their esteem for her as a measuring post. The battle of testosterone was both amusing and a waste of time, but she knew that neither of them would hold a real conversation until a verdict was reached.

Michel gave Kerry a fond look, one she hadn't seen on his face since the unguarded moments of their brief affair. She knew he was playacting, but it still turned her around. "I've always thought Kerry's talents are being wasted in Brockport. I've tried to convince her quit her job and move on."

The doctor nodded as though he agreed and approved. "How long have you known her?"

This time, Michel paused, though it was barely perceptible. Clearly, he wasn't sure how to answer. He couldn't say they had met in college when he already admitted to living in Brockport when he was younger, and if he was too specific, he risked the doctor figuring it all out, especially since a picture of Ethan Bryne was in one of the files on the desk. Michel wasn't superman, and his stylish glasses probably wouldn't be a foolproof disguise. "Almost a decade," he finally said.

"I've known her for about eight years. She's like a daughter to my wife and I." The doctor's warning to Michel was subtle, but not subtle enough.

"What were you researching?" Kerry asked, cutting in before she had to hear any more lies from Michel. The wounds were four years old and stopped bleeding long ago, but sometimes they still ached. She didn't think she could hear what Michel had to say about her next.

"Oh, right!" Dr. Roberts exclaimed. "I was looking at other primates to see if any matched the bite marks on the two victims. I found a monkey that fits almost perfectly. Let me show you." The doctor stood, quickly bypassing the two of them as he headed towards the morgue. "It doesn't explain the blood loss, of course. But maybe whoever owns the monkey took the blood out beforehand."

"Interesting," Kerry said, trying to keep the scepticism out of her voice.

"I thought it made just as much sense as vampires," the medical examiner told her, standing in front of one of the refrigeration units. "But that was before. Now I'm not too sure. Do you believe in vampires, Kerry?" he asked again.

Kerry hesitated, her eyes going towards the drawer Dr. Roberts was reaching for as he asked his question. Her silence was interrupted by the clean sound of the metal slab rolling out of the wall, the contents barely heavy enough to weigh down the heavy tray. She thought that if her heart was on it in this very moment, it would be heavier than the dead body.

"Let's ask Ethan Bryne, shall we?" Roberts suggested, clearly not looking at the skeletal remains drudged from the river.

"Yes," Michel answered. "I do believe in vampires."

His answer was said so calmly, so matter-of-fact, that Kerry turned to stare at him in disbelief. Was this how Michel dealt with adults he respected? No manipulations, no lies, simply honesty that was both jarring and... well, she didn't know. She couldn't think of an adjective to properly describe how she felt. Surprised? Yes. Distrustful? Yes, if he had taught her anything it was to question him. Pride? Oddly enough, yes.

This all went through her mind in a matter of seconds and then she noticed that Michel's gaze wasn't on her, but on Doctor Roberts, and Kerry realized her mistake in watching him instead of the doctor for his reaction. He would probably be furious at her for hiding it from him, and terrified that vampires existed and one was standing right in front of him, surely ready to kill him now that he had figured out the secret.

Instead of looking fearful or accusatory like Kerry expected, Dr. Roberts looked relieved. He turned his gaze towards her and said, "I knew you didn't kill that man."

Kerry shook her head. "I did. Marsala was convinced that I was a vampire too and he was trying to kill both of us. It was an accident. I just didn't want to die."

"She saved both of us, and probably other innocents who hadn't been dragged into the mess yet." Michel had on his sincere face, but he was being a lot less truthful now than he was the last time he opened his mouth. Kerry's world-view turned back on axis. This was the Michel she expected.

"Like this guy?" Dr. Roberts asked, looking down at the bones.

"Exactly."

"Funny thing is, all the paperwork clearly points to this being Bryne."

Michel smiled and shrugged. Oops, doctor, you caught me there.

"Can I speak to you for a moment Kerry," Dr. Roberts asked, heading back towards his office. Obviously, it wasn't a question. Kerry exchanged a warning look with Michel before following and making sure that she was standing so she could observe the two of them. "Who do the bones belong to?" he asked quietly. There was no doubt in Kerry's mind that Michel was cheerfully listening in on the conversation.

To back up that point, he grinned at her and winked.

She shrugged. "I have no idea. Ethan was taking care of his own disappearing act. I just had to give him enough time to leave."

"You never should have trusted a cold blooded killer like him."

Kerry's eyes narrowed. "He's not a cold blooded killer," she defended. Liar. Liar. "And I didn't trust him. I was in love with him."

"That's worse."

"Look," Kerry said impatiently. "I don't know what kind of ideas you have about him, but he doesn't have to kill every time he feeds – he only takes about a pint of blood."

The medical examiner snorted. "That's obvious. If vampires killed all their victims, there'd be a lot more bodies around."

Kerry bristled at the term victim, but wisely kept her mouth shut.

"How do you know he's not the one responsible for Doug and Lenny and Peter?"

"He's not," Kerry said firmly.

"As far as I'm concerned it takes a particular kind of monster to murder young men and allow young girls to kill for them. That kind of monster could do anything."

"He's not," Kerry responded, her voice a bit more shrill. "I called him for help. He's here because of me! If I hadn't contacted him, he'd still be in Winnipeg." Michel had taken a step towards her when it was clear that the conversation was making her upset, but once she mentioned where he had been living he stopped and gave her an unfathomable look. He met her eyes for a moment, and she was surprised to see the familiar sense of pain reflected in them. Finally, Michel took another step forward, having shaken off the mood and replaced it with a look of determination and politeness.

"Dr. Roberts, will you have a few words with me in your office?" he requested, clearly expecting his request to be met. Just as obvious, he was excluding Kerry from whatever it was he had to say.

Kerry could see them talking through the small window pane in the closed door, occasionally hearing the murmur of voices as their gestures became animated or faces drawn with anger. She wished more than anything that she could hear this conversation, but every time she began to sneak closer to the door, Michel would shoot her a look and she'd go back to browsing through her purse for things to do. She thought about calling Luke or Nelle for a quick conversation, but she didn't want to miss anything in case one of them shouted loud enough to be heard through the heavy door and walls.

They sure didn't make buildings this soundproof anymore. Or maybe it was just the fact that the building needed to be kept at a cool temperature and so had extra thick walls. Either way, the curious side of her hated it with a passion.

It was at least a good half an hour before the two of them shook hands and Michel emerged from the office looking completely unperturbed. "I'll meet you at your car," he told her, heading towards the door. Clearly, it was her turn to have a meeting with Dr. Roberts, and she felt oddly nervous despite the fact she had a high regard for the old man, or maybe it was that esteem which made her care what his reaction was. She felt like Elizabeth Bennet must have when Mr. Darcy tried to ask her father for her hand in marriage, as completely absurd as that comparison was. The doctor wasn't her father, and she certainly didn't care if he gave Michel any approval whatsoever.

Despite this, she still felt relief when Dr. Roberts opened the conversation with "your young man and I have reached an understanding."

Kerry sighed, feeling some of the tension leave her shoulders. "About what?"

"He explained to me that at his age—"

"He told you his age?" Kerry interrupted with amazement.

"No," Dr. Roberts said with a sense of graveness. "But he said if I wanted a quick test to see how well he knew you, to just mention it and you'd jump all over it."

Kerry blushed slightly, knowing there were far more telling ways Michel could prove that he knew her. "I didn't realize that was an issue of discussion," she responded.

"It came up. He was trying to convince me that you'd be safe with him. He was also trying to convince me that my life was probably now in danger and that if I helped him investigate he'd do what he could to keep me safe."

Kerry tried to keep her surprise hidden. It had crossed her mind that the doctor would probably be in danger now that he was let in on the world of vampires, but she hadn't really considered it to be that dire. Still, what really threw her was Michel offering to help someone. She wanted to say that it wasn't like him at all, but then he had kept her with him, perhaps even safe, during the kidnapping eight years ago. At the time she hadn't seen it that way, had seen the whole thing as subtly terrorizing her and wearing her down before he killed her, but eight years gave a girl perspective.

"Do you think I should trust him?" Dr. Roberts finally asked.

"I'd trust him with my life," she said simply and honestly. The truth of it rarely surprised her anymore, even as her rational side rebelled and the little voice in her head told her he'd betray her quicker than he'd kill her. She didn't think so, but at what point during the time they were together four years ago she had changed her mind, she couldn't say.

"That's easy for you to say," Dr. Roberts said critically.

"What do you mean?" Kerry asked with a confused frown.

"Of course you'd trust him. He's clearly in love with you."

"He said that?" she asked, though she had stopped breathing.

"He didn't need to. I saw it when he was talking about you earlier. He had this look in his eye that—" Dr. Roberts broke off, clearly uncomfortable.

Kerry started to breathe again. She was relieved to hear that the clearly in love with you really meant that Michel had managed to fool yet another person into believing the sincerity of his faux expressions. If Michel really had feelings for her, she thought her life would come tumbling down around her. She gave Dr. Roberts a careful smile. "We could really use any information you have. It would probably stop us from breaking in."

"I told him that I would certainly not help him in any way," he said forcefully, "but I had absolutely no objections to passing information on to you."

"Thank you," Kerry said feelingly. She stood to leave, but hovered uncertainly in place as she wondered if she should ask them if everything was all right between them. "I'll see you soon."

"I hope not," he told her. "Not if it means another body." He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly exhausted and overwhelmed.

"I'll treat you to lunch," she promised, struck by a strong feeling of kinship. Maybe she'd tell him all about how she met Michel, and they could work on this investigation together. "I have to go, Michel's waiting."

"So that's his name," the doctor mused, putting his glasses back on. "Take care around him."

Kerry didn't bother mentioning that she always did, because the last time she had broken through her own walls, he had shattered her into pieces. Maybe that was why she trusted him with her life – he had already destroyed it once. As she emerged from the building and saw him watching her from down the street, she knew that she could never give up those moments that only still existed in her dreams.

UNF. It had been a while since I wrote this and when I read the line "Yes," Michel answered. "I do believe in vampires." I pretty much had this moment of overwhelming love for him.