Again, with the waking up with a pounding head. Horatio groaned, argued with his stomach and mercifully won on the "let's not throw up" argument.
"Morning," a familiar voice said. Horatio bolted upright, staring in dopey befuddlement at the vampire, opened his mouth to ask what was going on, and then remembered it all.
"Argh..." he groaned. He'd done it again. Walking gullible blood bank that he was...
"Take it easy, you've had quite a night..." the vampire chuckled. He had the shades pulled, for while he was good at staving off the sunlight's influence, when he could, he hid from it. Thus the room was partially darkened, which made Horatio question what time of day it was.
"Time for work." was the answer he dreaded.
And thus, Mathius found himself being shoved out the door with grumbled instructions to go on ahead.
Back inside, Horatio groaned internally at the prospect of going to work, but knew he couldn't very well pull a sicky, that'd be too suspect. So with a heavy feeling in his stomach, he had a swift shower and changed his clothes before bolting out to his car.
Such a hurry he was in he didn't notice someone watching him from up a tree...
The place was pure pandemonium by the time he got there. People were running about like headless chickens. He was redirected to a new crime scene, yet another of the strange murders, where a worried Calleigh announce there'd been a whole string of them last night. After scene collection he returned to the lab, where he, like everyone else was swamped with trying to find out how this killer was killing so many so fast...
Calleigh theorized it had to be a whole cult of them, and Horatio admitted it made sense, although it worried him to admit it...
At the end of their shift, the evidence had all been catalogued, and some progress made, although not much. Tired and hungry Horatio left a little early, while Calleigh stayed behind to study the evidence just a little longer...
She yawned and sat back rubbing her eyes. There was something odd about the killings, there was no doubt...but what?
A loud belch distracted her from her musings and she looked up in time to see Mathius wander by. Catching his eyes she mimed falling off her chair from the force of it. He laughed and wandered in to see what she was doing.
"Slooow progress," was her reply when he asked how things were going.
"Ditto," he yawned "I've seen so many blood samples tonight ill be processing them in my sleep..."
"Why not? I'm sure H'll pay overtime for that..."
That got a laugh "true, he's got to be the most laid-back boss I've ever worked for...last guy I worked with was an uptight git that tore ya a new one if you so much as sneezed at a bad time."
Calleigh raised an eyebrow "that bad huh? No wonder ya asked to transfer..." she smiled "but your right, Horatio's a great boss, he doesn't have to yell at you to get you to do anything if ya get my drift..."
Mathius nodded "I'm going to go get some coffee, you fancy a cup?"
Calleigh nodded enthusiastically "LOVE caffeine, sounds great..."
The next day Horatio found himself back to the usual mayhem. Chasing another suspect. The guy had run off when Horatio had attempted to question him, and it seemed like he'd lost him. He'd rounded a corner, and was just about to call it in when someone landed on him from above. He felt his head hit the ground hard, stars passed across his vision and he cried out in pain.
Then he heard laughter, felt a hand grab his collar, and eh freaked out. End of the tether, no more tricks...
With a cry of anger he used all the strength he had to push the figure off him, catching them by surprise. They fell off him with a yelp, and he was on his feet and off running before they could blink. But they soon caught up, jumping the fences he'd scrambled over far too easily, and Horatio knew it was one of those goons again, had to be.
--Where are you Mathius, if you're supposed to be able to trace me, then do it now Damnit! -- This message drummed round and round in his head, as if he could summon the vampire just by sheer force of will. But Mathius wasn't with them on this one, he'd stayed at the lab with Calleigh, the pair had some new theory they ere testing, so Horatio told them to stick with it.
And now wished he hadn't, he was in deep doo-doo now.
He ran into a residential street, a car screeching to a halt to avoid the detective, who was shortly followed by his pursuer.
He ran and he ran, where was everybody? Running down a side street he spotted a high fence ahead, putting on a burst of speed he flung himself at it, hauling his skinny frame over it split seconds before the attacker rounded the corner. He bolted across someone's back lawn, then over another fence...
He'd gotten a few feet into the next garden before he realised his mistake. HIs feet skidded on wet pool tiles and, unable to correct his balance, he plunged headlong into the pool.
Frantic, he thrashed about in the water, managing to break the surface. He saw the attacker land on the other side of the fence, dash towards him....then stop. It glowered at the water and snarled, but didn't come any closer...
--The water...it must be something they fear, or he'd be in here tearing my throat out...--Horatio's logical mind quickly realised he could defend himself this way. Spotting a mop bucket by the side of the pool he snagged it, filling it and slinging the barrage at his attacker.
The man leapt back with a hiss of fury, but some of the water still hit his bare arms, at which he screeched in fury.
"Pathetic human wretch, I'll have your throat ripped out!" it took a step forward, glaring balefully at Horatio. But luckily for the detective, the pools owner came to the rescue.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" it was a Russian voice, the accent clipped and angry.
The vampire took a look at the human female at the same time Horatio did.
She stood on the far side of the pool, garbed in a red bikini with a red army beret perched on her head. Two sections of hair longer at the front, framed her face, the rest of it a short bob. She was holding a desert eagle, a gun most didn't want to be on the front end of. If a 9mm could pop a hole in your head, a DE would blast it right off and turn it into pulp.
The creature took a step towards her, but a well placed shot smacked into its shoulder, sending it reeling, and blood splattering the pristine white tiles.
"GET OUT OF HERE NOW, OR THE NEXT ONES FOR YOUR HEAD! I WILL CALLL THE COPS..."
A mixture of her good aim, her loud voice, enough to draw attention, and the fact she clearly wasn't afraid tilted the scales in Horatio's favour. The guy turned and ran with a snarl.
"Tch....cowardly fool..." the woman made to run after him, but he was too fast, out of her sight before she reached the wall.
She put her hands on her hips and glowered at the horizon, then shook her head and turned to Horatio, who had swam to the side and pulled himself out of the pool. He sat on the side, shivering a little as the breeze made contact with his drenched skin.
"Now now, who are you...?" she crouched down beside him, and he saw the beret on her head bore the insignia of the Russian army.
"You...." he pointed at it as he struggled to stop the shivers...
"Ex-army, got it in one...the gun was a parting gift from my comrades.." she spotted Horatio's badge and raised her eyebrows "speak of yourself, Mr. police officer.."
"I'm a detective with the miami-dade CSI lab...Horatio Caine..." he offered a hand which she grasped with a smile.
"Name's Arc Ginovaef, used to work for NCIS..."
"NCI-what?"
"NCIS, naval criminal investigative service...kind of like you I guess, we investigated crimes for the navy..." She helped him to his feet "come inside, I will find some towels for you..."
"Thank you..." Horatio managed at last. He needed to call it in, but a simple glance at his radio was enough to tell him it was busted. Ditto on the cell. He hoped Arc wouldn't mind him using her phone.
Once inside she vanished off and came back with an armload of towels, and oddly enough a men's suit.
"This belongs to my boyfriend, but he has not used it in two years, he will not mind I'm sure...if you want to change you can."
Horatio was more than glad to. He'd have to make a report about the chase, and he didn't fancy shivering his way through it.
Arc seemed friendly, if a little bonkers, what with her lack of fear at the sight of the intruder. He guessed years of army training and her NCIS work had trained the fear right outta her.
Once re-dressed he asked if she had a phone he could use.
She nodded, setting a cup of tea down in front of him, followed by her cell.
"The landlines on the fritz" she explained.
Horatio dialled the labs number and got through to Mathius by some luck.
"Detective? Are you alright, I had a bad feeling, but I couldn't leave the lab..."
"I'm fine...the guy that was chasing me got scared off by a woman with eerily good aim."
"Lucky for you, huh? I'm on my way detective..."
Horatio thanked him and hung up, letting a shaky sigh escape. That was attempt to nab him no.3 was it now? He felt slightly sick, what was going on here? Was this going to keep happening? Why was his blood so special? Why now? He'd been in possession of that blood his entire life, so why only now were the freaks crawling out of the woodwork?
--Am I going to be running from this the rest of my life? Living in fear of fangs digging into my neck, can't tell anybody or they'll call me insane or get attacked themselves....when is it going to stop...?--
The nausea didn't abate, although the sweet tea did ease it a little. While he waited for Mathius to come find him, he quizzed Arc about her army days, and NCIS. She showed him a few photos of her, another woman named Ziva, a gothic girl named Abby, and two guys she called DiNozzo and McGee. Also in some of the images was a guy with a serious expression, bordering on a scowl, despite the grins of the people around him. Arc pointed him out as "Jethro Gibbs", the boss. Apparently prone to slapping people on the head when they said something dumb.
Then there was a knock on the door, and she bounded over to it. She seemed permanently hyped up, possibly, judging by the mass amount of coke cans stacked about the place, on caffeine and sugar.
"Good afternoon ma'am, I'm from the crime lab..." that was Mathius' voice. Seconds later he was herded in by the Russian to meet his boss.
"You OK detective?" he asked as Horatio got up.
"I'm fine, really..." but now he stood up, his ribs ached from the impact, and although the dunk in the pool had slowed the flow of blood from the whack to the head, it still pounded nonetheless. But his hair was hiding the injury from view, so neither arc nor Mathius noticed it. Before he left, he asked Arc if his partner could take a swab of the blood from the attacker plus some photos. Her response was "go right ahead!"
That done, the pair made to leave; Arc had put the drenched clothing and damaged cell phone and radio into a bag for him. Thanking her again he promised he'd return the dry clothes once he'd washed them. She waved goodbye and said not to hurry, she didn't mind.
"She was nice," Mathius remarked as he nudged H back towards the SUV he'd arrived in. He'd have to drive H back to the station so they could make a report.
"Indeed, I was lucky she showed up, otherwise that thing might've found away to get me...I guess it didn't think a desert eagle worth killing me for..."
Mathius nodded, and only then noticed H was wearing a suit he didn't recall him wearing before he'd left the lab.
Catching his baffled look Horatio clipped the seatbelt in and slumped back in the seat, wincing as his stomach twinged, "I fell into her pool running from that guy..." he frowned "he seemed to really hate water...is that.."
"Another trait of our kind, yes..."
"Why?"
"Well, put simply, it's because water has high purifying properties, not just holy water, though that IS enemy no.1 in the category. It burns our skin quickly, shorts out what powers we have, can eventually kill us..."
Horatio looked baffled again "then, how do you take a bath or a shower?"
"With my clothes off, same way you people do..."
"No..." Horatio sniggered faintly, making his head pound again, "I meant-"
"I know detective, I was just taking the mickey..." the vampire smiled "we can take baths if we add a special herb mixture to the water..."
Horatio nodded, then, as the car took a sharp corner, his stomach lurched, and he groaned.
"Detective?"
"Pull over..."
"What's wrong-?"
"I think I'm going to be sick..."
The SUV skidded to a halt in an empty street and Horatio dived out of it, managing to reach an alley dustbin before he threw up.
HIs stomach ached terribly; it felt like someone was stabbing it with a red hot knife. Then, mercifully it faded as the last of what was in there evacuated itself.
A spate of coughing shook his body as he stepped back, or staggered to be more accurate.
Mathius popped up in his field of view moments later, holding one of those antibacterial wet-wipes most CSIs carried in their kit to kill germs on their hands.
Still shaking a little, Horatio managed to clean himself up, and was shepherded back to the car by the vampire.
"Maybe we ought to get you to the hospital..." Mathius worried as Horatio buckled himself back in. The human was white as a sheet, hiccupping and coughing alternately.
"I'm fine..." Horatio sighed "I hit my head earlier...that's all it is..."
"Where?" Horatio flinched away from him on instinct as Mathius moved closer. But he wasn't reaching for his neck; instead he brushed some of Horatio's hair away, to see the injury.
Horatio's head was buzzing painfully; he could barely focus on the vampires words. The fingertips pressed against his skin felt blessedly cool to his fevered mind. Noticing he looked flushed the other CSI pressed a hand to Horatio's forehead, the soothing coldness of his touch enough to ease the pounding for just a moment.
"Screw the report..." he heard the car grinding gears "I'm taking you to a hospital detective..."
The rest of it passed in a blur. Horatio couldn't reason what was wrong with him. It was just a knock to the head right...so why?
Mathius knew what it was. The recent events were taking their toll on the human. The burden he was carrying was causing this grief. He'd had blood voluntarily taken, and involuntarily on one occasion when he'd been caught the first time in the alley...The stress of keeping all this locked up in his head was straining the human too far. Add a frightening chase/run away incident coupled with a bang to the head and this happened...HIs studies on humans meant he had a lot of knowledge of what psychological stress could do.
The detective's immune system had probably been dropping steadily over the days, which meant a dunk in a cold pool and a whang to the head made for trouble. The man was most likely in shock as well as pain.
--I'm sorry detective....you shouldn't have to suffer like this...but it's the only way to keep you alive, is for you to know what seeks your blood...--
By the time he got to the hospital Horatio was steadily descending into concussion territory, he was dizzy, sick and disorientated. Ignoring the protests Mathius unhooked him from the seatbelt and helped him stagger into A&E.
After some checkups Horatio was finally allowed to rest. The hospital said he had few lightly bruised ribs and a concussion injury, but nothing major aside from that. When Mathius was allowed to finally see him, he insisted on leaving.
"You should stay here detective... your still dizzy..."
Horatio sighed and shook his head "we haveta get back to the lab...the others will get suspicious if they hear I got ambushed twice. They could twig something odd happened. As is, we'll have to hope they assume I was chasing the perp and we BOTH took a dunk in a pool..." he paused, then added "only he got away from me...."
Mathius insisted it was a bad idea, but Horatio was determined. He'd already been in the hospital a few hours, and although his head hurt, the painkillers the nurse had given him were doing the trick nicely. He still felt tired and a little wobbly, but he forced himself to keep going. He had a job to do, plus they'd gotten a blood sample from one of the vampires at last, there was a possibility he was one of the murderers...
Thus, a slightly more coherent Horatio arrived back at base with the vampire. Delko met them when they wandered into the lab with the blood sample, and Horatio attributed his dishevelled appearance and gauze on forehead to a chase gone awry.
"By the time I hauled myself outta the pool the guy was gone..."
"Where'd you get the snazzy suit then?" Delko asked.
Horatio recounted the tale of Arc running out of the house and taking a shot at the guy as he legged it over the fence. Delko seemed impressed.
"Russian army girl huh? You got lucky H; she got us a sample to work with!"
"I know..." Horatio laughed "I have to get this suit back to her, once I get home and wash it..."
"You OK though?" his co worker asked.
Horatio smiled "I'm fine, the whang to the head knocked me sideways for a bit, but the hospital said it's not serious."
"That's a relief, you seem to be having a rough time with perp chases lately H..."
"Tell me about it...I think were literally working with very smart criminals here, they're smart enough to try take out the Cops/CSIs, the one I chased is probably involved somehow...he got fidgety as soon as I mentioned the murders, that someone matching his description had been seen nearby.."
Delko nodded in understanding, he'd had a fair old amount of runners in his time as well, and he understood what a pain they were.
But H looked pale and tired; he'd been acting oddly since the passing out in the parking lot incident. He seemed to never get enough sleep, he was forever yawning, and he sometimes seemed to stare off into space, not heeding those calling him.
But H stayed a little while, giving a detailed report about the chase, including the new evidence, and the help the civilian had given him. He'd looked her name up, since shed been in the service, and the records proved the desert eagle was hers by register. That was a relief, hedve hated to have to bust someone who helped him. But Arcs records came up clean, and he made a mental note to drop the suit into the dry cleaners. He also managed to salvage the sim card from the phone, so it was just a matter of signing out a brand new handset.
Wandering into one of the conference room he happened upon Mathius and Calleigh staring at a whiteboard. This had a map pinned on it.
"What's up" he asked, and the two explain they'd been trying to find a link between all the murders, using the places and locales as a clue, but so far it was a dead end. These murders literally seemed to have no signature to them, no pattern.
After a further hour of fruitless thinking, the three decided to give that theory a rest. Horatio's head was aching again, and he was eternally grateful for the end of his shift.
After Horatio left, Calleigh drifted towards the coffee pot. She noticed Mathius hadn't left either. Little did she know that Horatio had gotten cross at him, telling him to leave him alone, he wanted a nights peaceful rest. So Mathius had backed down, but vowed to keep watching over the detective's house once he ended his shift.
As she waited for the coffee pot to boil, she doodled on a scrap of paper scrunched up beside the pot. Playing join the dots with the flecks of coffee spilled on it.
Then it hit her. The map...
She dropped the pen, the coffee forgotten entirely. She dashed down the hall, spinning into the room where she left the map. Straightening it out on the board she grabbed a marker and started from the most recent murder, drawing a line from the to the next one in chronological order. If that came up blank shed try a spiral starting from the one at the centre of the muddle...
Her first idea came up with a funny sort of symbol. It criss crossed the map, its end pointing like an arrow...literally, the locations of the most recent three formed the end of an arrow, which was pointed in the general direction of a bunch of houses.
She thought back to when Horatio had gotten ambushed by those thugs. What if they were a cult with a vendetta against the police? She decided to check the addresses of local miami-dade officers and CSI workers.
Only one came up with a startling proximity. Horatio's apartment.
"OH god..." she panicked. Maybe it was nothing, but she was suddenly afraid for the CSI. She had to ring him, get him to hear her out...
She swiftly dialled Horatio's number.
A few rings then "Horatio Caine here, what's up?"
She let a sigh of relief exit her "H, thank god, listen, I got a break in the case, or I think it is..."
"How do you mean Calleigh?"
"I mean you. The murders form a symbol of some sort, it looks like an arrow, and it's pointing right towards your apartment..."
"Are you serious? What would it be doi-Agggh" there was a clatter and the sound of someone crying out.
"Quit struggling you bastard-"
CLICK.
"HORATIO!!" Calleigh cried in fear, but only an empty dial tone met her cry.
"Calleigh?" Mathius stuck his head round the door, his stomach was nagging at him, something was wrong with his detective, but something was upsetting Calleigh too.
"Its Horatio, he's in big trouble...look!" she pointed at the map. Mathius knew the symbol well, it was one sued by his kind. And it was pointing at his detectives living place. How could he have missed it?!
--I didn't think they'd go this far to draw attention away from it...I thought this whole thing was because I stopped them getting the detective...damn that bastard Rylam, ill tear him apart!!--
Fear entrenched in them both, Calleigh and Mathius left, calling for backup on the way...