Coreen's nose was pressed against the window as the sea-plane taxied out across the dark water. She could see the choppy little waves of the surface that slipped by underneath the pontoons.
"Are you sure that you don't want to check this out, Vicki?" she said as she turned to where Vicki and Henry sat next to each other on the opposite side of the narrow aisle.
"No thanks, Coreen," Vicki said; she looked decidedly ill at ease. "You go ahead though, knock yourself out."
Henry could scent Vicki's fear. The moment that the engines revved up for take-off, I could feel that her uneasiness crossed a threshold and now I can scent her fear, my Chosen's fear. The Vampire responded to this stimulation, seeking a way to, a way to…
Vicki's hand closed on his thigh, and she squeezed hard, with a slight shake. "Henry, you look like you want to kill someone. What's with the face?" Henry drew in a deep breath, covering Vicki's hand with his own. "I'm fine Vicki," he said, "Just a little nervous I suppose." Vicki looked doubtful, but she didn't press the point.
The plane was picking up speed, gliding across the water; the engines were a loud roar as the distant lights of the shore streamed by in the dark. Faster and faster they went until with a sudden shift in her stomach, Vicki knew that they were in the air. The plane banked out over the open water in a wide turn climbing rapidly.
They passed over the ancient forest of Stanley Park, trees of such an age that under their boughs even the vampire felt young. The dark mass of the park gave way to the cityscape slung out below them in a broad arc. Henry watched from the window, his city, his, and it lay out below him like a glittering field of flowers nestled between the mountains and the sea. The vampire swelled inside him, demanding his focus. He was leaving his territory, the place that was his, and venturing into the place of another. His instincts roused at the thought, I should have fed, he thought suddenly. Before I attempted this, I should have fed. This whole thing would be easier to manage if…
The hunger was not really at issue, he had taken Jared's blood only the previous evening. Physically he had no real requirement, yet there was a certain soporific effect that recent feeding had on his instincts.
He diverted himself by listening to Kevin's voice. He could hear him on the phone from his seat at the back of the small cabin. His tone was reasonable and measured and he knew that Kevin would negotiate all that was necessary.
The man has a golden tongue, he thought. I remember Kevin standing at the door of my sanctuary in the safe house, badgering me to rise. He had presented all his arguments persuasively, eloquently and when I refused to leave my bed, turning away and dismissing him, he simply dragged me out of it. Now, Henry could smile at the memory of a four hundred and eighty year-old vampire, not to mention a Prince of the Realm, dragged from his bed like a sleepy teenager by a scrawny forty-five year-old human. We came to blows and of course I ended up with him pinned to the wall and virtually snarling in his face. I can still remember how flummoxed I was when he started to laugh and said, "Well at least you're up."
Henry turned to Vicki with a smile as they reached their flight altitude and the mud flats of the Delta flashed by below.
"How long do you think that it will take for us to arrive in Victoria?" Vicki asked him.
"Kevin told me that it would be about a forty-five minute flight, depending on the weather," he replied.
"So we are going to land right downtown in the Inner Harbor?" Coreen asked, turning away from the window at last, when all there was below was the silvered surface of the water passing.
It was Kevin who replied from his seat further back, having closed his phone and put it away. "Yes, there is a dock and a terminal building on the James Bay side of the Inner Harbor. We will land and then taxi in there to the dock. There will be a car waiting for us when we arrive."
Henry twisted in his seat to look at his envoy. "I assume that the Resident's representative will be there as well?" He said this more for Vicki and Coreen's benefit, as the format of such dispensation arrangements were usually very similar.
Kevin nodded. "Yes, his name is Arthur Ramsey, I know him well. He will be representing Adrienne's interests; I understand that she's worked with him in the past."
"So where exactly is this that we'll be meeting up with this other vampire?" Vicki asked.
"Well, to tell the truth I had arranged for separate transportation to the safe house for you and Ms. Fennel, while Henry…"
"Nuh-uh," Vicki shook her head interrupting. "Sorry Kevin, but that's just not gonna happen. I'm not leaving Henry's side, no way in hell."
"Vicki," Henry tried for a reasonable tone, "I have been granted a dispensation, there are witnesses, it will be fine."
"Yeah and that's why you are wound up tighter than a spring, because there is absolutely no risk," Vicki said sarcastically. "Don't ask me to leave you Henry, please. I know that you know Kevin and the "Community," but these people are strangers to me Henry. I won't leave you with them. Where you go, I go." she said this with such vehemence and such fierceness that Henry couldn't find it in himself to argue.
Kevin spoke from where he was seated, "It's a moot point anyway, Henry. Now that Adrienna knows that you have taken a Chosen, and that she is here with you, Adrienna is insisting that your companions accompany you to the meeting."
"What the hell is up with this whole Chosen thing? I have a fucking name you know!" Vicki shouted; she felt completely tense and wound up. Energy was skittering and dancing over her nerve endings; she could sense danger, a threat, something. Coreen watched wide-eyed from across the aisle.
Henry put a hand on Vicki's shoulder and the contact seemed to calm her substantially. "Vicki, please," he said, his blue eyes dark and troubled. "Please, I'll explain whatever you want later, but for now," She watched as his pupils dilated outwards and the looming darkness overtook the vibrant evening blue, "for now, please try to remain calm. When you are angry and frightened it makes it difficult for me to focus on anything but that fact. I need my wits about me Vicki!" He ran a hand down her arm. "Please," he whispered.
She raised a hand to cup his cheek and looked directly into the ebony eyes, "All right Henry, I'll try but I can't guarantee what'll happen if…"
"It will all be fine," Kevin said, "This meeting is basically just a formality." He leaned in the seat as the plane began to bank into a decent to land in the open water just outside Victoria's Inner Harbor.
Thousands of tiny white lights that were the outline of the parliament buildings, and the floodlit, vine covered façade of the Empress Hotel, looked on, as the small craft settled smoothly to the surface of the harbor and then throttled back and began to taxi into the terminal.
The moment the plane touched down, the humans in the plane's cabin became aware of a change in the vampire. Though Henry's eyes had resumed their human appearance, there was a strange and prickling sense of unease in the air. The vampire seemed to be at once both highly focused and yet strangely distant.
Less Henry, more vampire, Coreen thought. He's still Henry but his instincts are coming to the forefront. So this is how a Vampire looks when they are in another's territory.
When the plane was tied up at the end of the dock, they could see a group of three men standing beside a stretch limo and a black Mercedes sedan. As the pilot opened the cabin door, Vicki started up from her seat. Henry laid a hand on her arm.
"Wait Vicki," he said, "our representatives must meet first, before I set foot in this territory."
They watched as Kevin walked along the dock to be met partway by a tall dark-haired man, with a neatly trimmed beard. They spoke briefly then shook hands and began to walk together towards the plane. Henry turned to Vicki and said, "We can get off now. Please, Vicki, Coreen, stay with me and follow my lead." He looked at them both seriously until they each nodded.
Henry got off first, and handed Vicki and then Coreen down the short flight of steps.
When the bearded man neared, Henry swiveled his head towards him, lifting his chin and narrowing his eyes; Vicki could feel Henry's body tense beside her at the other man's scent.
"Henry Fitzroy? My name is Arthur Ramsey. I am the envoy of Adrienna Morris, Resident of Vancouver Island. She sends you her greetings and has granted you safe passage in her territory," the bearded man said.
Henry nodded solemnly, graciously; Vicki and Coreen remained silent. Arthur's eye fell on Vicki with a spark of curiosity.
"Please," he bowed slightly with a wave of his arm, indicating that they should pass him. "The cars are waiting to take you to the meeting. At its conclusion, they will be at your disposal. If you desire they will return you to the accommodations that the Community has arranged."
When they arrived at the cars, Henry, Coreen and Vicki were ushered into the limo. Arthur leaned in before the door closed to say that they would be meeting with Adrienna at the Buchart Gardens perhaps a thirty-minute drive distant. Kevin, Arthur and the other driver took the Mercedes sedan. As the Mercedes started off, their driver pulled away from the curb to follow.
They passed through downtown Victoria, the streets still alive with tourists even at the hour of eleven in the evening. As they drove up Government Street, they passed a pub, The Irish Times, and they could see the patrons through the faceted glass of the windows and faintly hear the fiddle tunes that rolled out through the open doors.
"I could use a drink right now," Vicki said, as much to break the silence that had fallen in the car as from any desire to actually have one.
Henry didn't respond; he seemed lost in thought. Coreen rolled her eyes at Vicki.
"Henry. Hey Hank!" When he looked up at her, Vicki continued, "Why are you so quiet? You haven't said a word since Ramsey introduced himself. What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry Vicki. It was his scent. I, I could smell her all over him."
"The territorial thing?" Coreen asked sympathetically.
"Yes," Henry admitted, trying to ease some of the tension from his shoulders. "Yes and no, her scent…her scent is ancient, power laden and full of…promise. It makes me feel, young and inexperienced in a way I haven't in a very long time."
He shook his head; he could feel the vampire struggling inside, seeking to answer the challenge in that disturbing scent.
I know that I can handle the power of my instincts if all goes well, but if, if Vicki or Coreen are threatened in any way, I'm not sure; I'm just not sure.
"Well get the idea out of your head that you're dropping us off somewhere," Vicki growled.
But Henry just shook his head. "I couldn't leave you inside of this one's territory even if you asked me to Vicki; it would not be possible for me."
"Well good, then," Vicki said somewhat mollified.
They resumed their silence, Henry inward focused, his dark eyes brooding. Vicki and Coreen stared out the windows into the dark and buildings, then stands of trees and then farmland passed as they headed up the Pat Bay Highway.
Fifteen minutes later they turned off the highway onto a smaller road. Coreen spotted the signage indicating Buchart Gardens. After a moment Henry spoke.
"Vicki, remember yesterday night when you asked me to…show you more…of what my life is like?" Vicki nodded and Coreen's ears perked up, her limitless curiosity stirring.
"Then when I agreed to…show you…to choose you, I asked you for your promise," Henry said.
"I remember," Vicki said; she had given her word.
"I need that promise from you again tonight Vicki, and from you Coreen," Henry said, "I need to know that I can rely on your oath."
Vicki knew that Henry needed to hear the words to assuage some of the terrible tension he felt. She wanted to ease him and so she repeated her promise of the previous evening.
"I will do exactly as you say. I will keep quiet and not interfere. I will not resist you in any way. You have my promise," Vicki said solemnly.
Coreen's eyes widened as the vampire looked at her seriously, "I need your oath, little sister," he said softly.
When Coreen had repeated the words, Henry seemed a little more relaxed. Vicki and Coreen however, felt much more anxious.
The car pulled into the entrance for the Gardens, the head lights sweeping in a white swath through the trees. They drove through the deserted orange-lit parking lots, pausing only while a security guard unlocked a gate to swing it out of a small private roadway. It was a short distance to a small gravel parking lot, in front of some low buildings. They could see a large number of sparkling glass greenhouses spread out in a long row behind.
"Remember your promise," Henry said, as the driver opened their door.
For Vicki and Coreen, the night they stepped out into was velvet black and filled with the wet pattering and spraying sounds of the sprinklers, the chirping of the cricket chorus and the fragrance of thousands of blooms.
For Henry, the night was full of the challenging scent of one of his own kind. It rode on the very air that he drew into his lungs. It infuriated him, filling him with an unreasonable desire to strike and rend. The part of him that was vampire chafed within and strained against the constraints of an iron will. He saw or heard nothing other than the clamor of his instincts battering at his rational thought…other.
Kevin came back to them from the other car. He didn't approach too closely, neither did he speak to, or touch Henry. He stood with eyes averted until Henry looked directly at him and then Kevin said softly, "Adrienna is waiting inside. Are you ready?"
Matthews stood outside the bedroom door, at his regular post. He stared off down the hall and was humming a little tune, over and over again. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are…
As long as he hummed he could ignore the sounds that drifted past the thick mahogany of the door that he guarded. The terrible sounds and the frantic muffled screaming that the whores always made from behind the gags. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…
He knew that the sounds had died away a few minutes ago but he still jumped, caught unawares as the door opened behind him.
"Ah, Matthews, still at your post I see. Good man, good man," Fletcher said jovially.
Matthews turned his suit clad bulk to face his employer and saw as always the immaculate white hair, the bright blue eyes, now deepened by lust and cruelty.
Matthews's eyes fled Fletcher's predatory gaze, to fall to the blood-stained butcher's apron that protected the silk robe that Fletcher wore beneath it. He saw the latex-gloved hands stained red with blood. Matthews focused on the sparse grey and silver hair on Fletcher's chest at the opening of the robe.
"It seems that this little slut won't be requiring a ride back to the Ferry tomorrow after all. I need you to take care of the mess that she made of the room though," Fletcher said. "Dispose of the garbage in the usual discreet way and when you're done, come and find me in the library."
Matthew's nodded numbly as Fletcher pulled the apron over his head, dropping it on the floor, and stripped off the bloodied gloves, dropping them on top. Through the opening in the loosely belted robe, Matthews caught a glimpse of Fletcher's semi-erect organ nestled in a thatch of iron grey curls.
"Make sure all of my devices and implements are cleaned and appropriately stored," Fletcher said as Matthews eyes quickly darted back to his face.
"Yes sir," Matthews managed, and then he shuffled past Fletcher, entering the bedroom and closing the door softly behind him.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are…
Fletcher reclined in the leather chair, in his office; he was relaxed and…spent. He leaned forward and placed his bourbon on the desk top, and picked up the phone. Punching in a number, he waited until a male voice answered.
"Any news?" Fletcher asked without preamble.
"Yes, two names, Mr. Fletcher, Ben Turner and William Hagen. Both are Victoria residents and both work for the Victoria Aquatic Mammals Protection Society."
"Find them," Fletcher instructed. He was feeling mellow and sated after his sport. The filthy bitch was good for something after all, he thought.
He fondled his heavy member in one hand as he said. "I haven't decided what to do about them yet, find them and follow them."
"Yes Sir, Mr. Fletcher," the voice said before Fletcher returned the phone to the cradle.
Perhaps I'll have Matthews wake Chef; I feel like a…omelet, I think…
His feet were soaked, as the waves ran in to wash about the rocks, at the end of Clover Point. He was numb to the sensation except to derive some obscure comfort from the sigh of the ocean's breath against the shore. His pants were wet to the knees, the fabric wicking up the water, and the material white rimmed with salt.
How long he had been sitting here, staring off across the silvery water and watching the cloud-cast moon cross the sky, he could not say.
He was cold, he knew, and yet it didn't really matter. He was colder inside than out. His heart was frozen in a world suddenly gone flat and featureless.
He had waited, the tears wet on his cheeks, waited to see if Liath would return, watching for her in the water. There had been nothing, no one, and the trickling tears had dried in the onshore breeze, and still he waited. When hope had finally gone, he crumpled to the rocks to sit, lost in his own misery.
Finally, with a sigh, he levered himself to his feet, stiff limbs protesting, and turning, made his way up to the point, ambling like a lost soul across the open expanse and up the slope to where his car was parked. Standing on the overlook he could see the faint lights of Port Angeles across the Strait, the water stretching out flat and featureless away into the distance, placid and serene under the moon.