Fallen Angels

by Judith Post

  "Damn it." The dog had a shiny coat. It was someone's pet, obviously well loved. It was big enough to sustain the rogue for a few more days. Enoch bent to study its neck. Savaged. The rogue was getting restless, needy. Just like Danny's stalker, it yearned for more than a kill. The rogue wanted to sink its fangs deep into someone's throat and suck them dry.

  Enoch left the dog's body where he'd found it and hurried his pace toward the city. He wanted to be in place to watch the Senior Center before Marie's class ever started. He found a space between an office furniture store and an old, weathered brick building that sat directly across the street from the center's main entrance. He wedged himself between the two walls.

  The city was fully decorated for Christmas now with a brightly lit Santa and his reindeer on the side of the bank building nearby, blue twinkling lights in the trees around the city-county building, and candles in each window of the tall Lincoln Tower. Enoch’s stomach grumbled when the bread company cranked up its ovens and the aroma of freshly baked loaves drifted to him. He stood to stretch his legs in the narrow space. The stores blocked the wind, and it was a good thing. The temperatures were freezing. He was grumbling to himself when Danny’s unmarked car slowed at the curb.

  “Brought you some coffee. It’s a cold night to be standing watch.”

  “Thanks.” Enoch walked to the car and took the Styrofoam cup without complaining. Even coffee in plastic sounded good right now. After a quick sip, he said, “I’m starving. When class gets out, want to pick me up and go to Henry’s for supper?” Henry’s was a restaurant/bar on Main Street by the newspaper building. It served wonderful food at some of the best prices in town.

  Danny gave a quick nod. “You’ve got yourself a date. See you around eight fifteen.”

  Good, Enoch wouldn't have to walk home. It wasn't that far, but he'd be as stiff as a popsicle by then. When Danny drove off, Enoch wiggled back into his slim space to stand guard. An hour and a half later, students trickled out of the classroom. When the cold air hit them, they tugged their coats tighter and hurried to their cars. Enoch watched Marie leave their meeting room, pull on her coat in the center’s large foyer, and reach for a cardboard box that held her supplies. As she bent for the box, a shadow slid from behind the bushes that flanked the front doors, pushed inside the building, and tackled her at full speed.

  Marie sprawled on the floor, the air knocked out of her. She struggled to raise herself onto her elbows as Enoch raced across the street. A car turned the corner, and he had to stop to let it pass. The man was working fast, wrapping pantyhose around her throat and pulling them tight, when a blur slashed past Enoch and slammed into the building.

  Voronika heaved the man off the floor and shook him like a dust mop. His body dangled, his legs bicycling for some kind of leverage. Just like in his vision. Enoch remembered what came next and stormed in behind her. Voronika turned her head and smiled, her fangs long and pointed. “You took your time.”

  Her eyes were swallowed by dark, sunken craters. Her long, silver hair hung limp and brittle. Her skin was ghostly pale. “Don’t bite him,” Enoch said when she flicked out her tongue to lick her lips. She must be nearly starving. “Give him to the cops. They’ll handle this.”

  She studied the killer, his disguise forsaken in favor of a nylon pulled over his head. “Lucky for you that I’ve given up junk food.” She was about to throw him against the wall, like she did in the vision, when Danny pounded into the foyer behind Enoch.

  Danny came to a sudden halt when he saw Voronika, fangs ready, yellow eyes gleaming. “Sweet Jesus.”

  She turned on Enoch, the woman who didn't trust anyone. “You set me up. A trap. Well, see how you handle this.” She tossed the killer toward them and when both men lunged for him, she swept out the back door. Miffed, she’d thrown him farther than she intended. His feet hit the floor, running. He was out of the building and into the shadows before they could reach him.

  “You stay with Marie, make sure she’s all right.” Enoch raced outside and saw the killer dodge between two horses and carriages—carrying merry makers to the city's holiday attractions. People, bundled in blankets, craned their necks to watch Marie's attacker flee. Enoch was gaining on him when he reached the corner and hopped onto a rented tram that was taking people from one holiday event to another. When Enoch reached the tram, the man was gone, but his scent hung in the air—a mixture of fury and panic—easy to track. He followed it to Coney Island. The hot dog place was jammed with a crush of people who’d come to see the Santa lights and celebrate the holiday. Enoch walked slowly past full tables. He breathed in heavily, but the killer’s scent mingled with everyone else's, then disappeared into the aromas of spicy chili and diced onions.

  Enoch left the eatery through its back door. He stalked up and down the streets and alleys nearby, but the man had disappeared. He returned to the Senior Center. “No luck,” he said when Danny looked up at him from the notes he was scribbling on his pad. Marie was shaken, but standing. “Too many people on the streets.”

  “Thank you for saving me,” she hurried to say. She had a soft voice, a kind face, and a sweet smile. Why would anyone choose her as a victim? How could anyone hate her?

  “My pleasure.” Enoch glanced at Danny, wondering how much the woman had seen and remembered.

  Danny answered Enoch’s unspoken question. “Mrs. Lemmon…“

  “Marie,” she corrected. “Please call me Marie.”

  “Marie can’t remember very much. The man attacked her when she was bending over, and she only got a glimpse of his feet—in dirty white gym shoes—before he put the nylon around her throat. She was starting to black out when a nice, young, homeless girl came in and interrupted him. She thinks they scuffled, and she was worried about the girl.”

  “She’s fine,” Enoch said. “Danny and I got here in time.”

  Danny nodded. “Marie's eyes had watered so much that by the time she could see and think clearly again, the girl was gone, and we were here.”

  “We scared the girl,” Enoch said. “We didn’t mean to.”

  “She’s skittish,” Marie told them. “She’s been alone on the streets too long. She doesn’t trust people.”

  No kidding. Enoch hesitated. “May I look at your neck? The nylon left an ugly mark.”

  She winced when he gently touched the red gash on her throat. Enoch closed his eyes and waited. When he opened them, he shot a nervous glance at Danny. To cover his unease, he asked, “Should you see a doctor? Make sure…”

  “I’m fine,” she said, waving off his concern, “thanks to the three of you.”

  Luckily, Marie’s husband came rushing into the building then, distracting them. “Thanks for coming so fast,” Danny said. “Here she is, safe and sound, but she’s pretty shaken. She shouldn’t drive herself home.”

  The man slid an arm around his wife’s shoulders, and she leaned into him. It was evident that they had a warm relationship.

  “Are you ready?” he asked her. Marie nodded, and her husband carried her supplies to his car and helped her into the passenger’s seat.

  “A nice couple,” Danny said.

  “Glad he’s not a widower.” Enoch took a deep breath. Too close. Even watching over her, they'd almost lost her. “Not a great rescue.”

  “But a rescue.” Danny grabbed Enoch’s arm and led him outside. He nodded at fellow officers who’d come to do a thorough search. “If there’s anything that can help us, these guys will find it. You promised me dinner. We can talk over food.”

  “But…”

  “Not now. One thing at a time.”

  They were almost to the sidewalk when one of the techs called, “Hey, look at this!”

  Danny and Enoch retraced their steps.

  The man nodded to a plastic trash bag behind the bushes. When he pulled back a corner with gloved hands, he revealed a straight-edged razor nestled on top of packets of Halloween face paint kits.

  “All he had to do was drag her int
o the meeting room, and he could spend as much time on her as he wanted,” Enoch said. His stomach clenched. Someone might have found Marie, shaved clean and painted like a clown. “There are blinds on the windows facing the street. No one would see him.”

  Danny’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I want this guy locked away for life.”

  Enoch’s mood wasn’t much better. Since moving to Three Rivers, he was zero in two for a success rate. He hadn't caught anybody.

  On the short drive to Henry’s, they didn’t talk. The parking lot was filled, and the merrymakers who jostled inside grated on Enoch’s nerves. Danny found them a booth in the second room, but refused to talk business until their food and drinks came. When a plate piled with black bean nachos sat in front of him and a bowl of cioppino was placed on the table for Enoch, Danny sighed. “Okay, we can start. I saw the look on your face after you touched Marie. Let’s deal with that first. You looked like someone sucker punched you.”

  “I got a whole string of women’s faces, one after another. Our guy’s ready to go on a rampage unless you stop him.”

  It was Danny’s turn to look shaken. “You got them all? Faces and names?”

  “I don’t know if I saw all of them, but I saw enough.” Enoch grimly began to recite the list. “The first one will be Gail Lahmeyer. It was hard to tell with the clown paint and joker hat, but she looked to be in her early fifties.”

  Danny scrawled the name in his notepad. “Next?”

  “Maggie Gilroy. He propped her nurse’s hat at a crooked angle on her bald head and glued a stethoscope to a big, red heart propped on her chest so that we could listen for a beat.”

  “For us?”

  “He’s starting to enjoy taunting us.”

  “Sick bastard.”

  “Paige Gates. I only got a quick glimpse and her name. It was like a film clip that was speeding up.”

  “Any more?”

  “A young woman surrounded by flowers. No name. That was it, but only because my vision ran out of energy.”

  Danny scanned the names on the list. That there were so many bothered him, Enoch could tell, but he gave a curt nod. “At least, we shouldn’t have another gap where we have to guess who’ll come next. If we save Gail, we can move right onto the next woman, unless we catch the creep and lock him away first.”

  “Right.” They might as well focus on the positive.

  "If he was going to try for Katy again, would you have seen her?"

  "I think so. It looks like he tries, and then if he fails, he moves to the next woman."

  “You only touched Marie a few seconds.” Danny frowned. “Does that mean our guy’s in a hurry?”

  “He’s so full of rage, he can hardly contain it. He won’t wait long.”

  “I’ll get on it as soon as I get back to the office. I'll have addresses and work places where we can visit them.”

  Enoch caught the word we. But how could he stop helping Danny now? It wasn't that much of a conflict anyway. Enoch only had two vamps to keep track of, so he had plenty of free time on his hands.

  They finished their meals in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Danny only ate half his nachos and had to have the rest boxed up for later. A bad sign. Danny rarely lost his appetite. When he dropped Enoch in front of his apartment building, he said, “You know, you did a good thing, telling me about your talents. They freaked me out at first, but the last two women would be dead if you weren’t helping me.”

  “Voronika helped too. She got to Marie before I did.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got to think some more on that. Never thought I’d be teamed up with a vampire.”

  On the elevator ride to the penthouse, Enoch replayed the night’s events in his mind. They’d come so close. He didn’t turn on the lights when he entered the apartment, just dropped into a chair and brooded. He was so distracted that he almost didn’t hear the taps on his patio doors. They were so faint, he strained to listen. They came again.

  He braced himself. How angry was Voronika? He slid the door open, ready for her to rush him. She didn’t cross the threshold. Instead, she took a step backward. “Am I welcome?”

  “Why wouldn't you be?”

  “I let him get away. You tried to catch him, and if I hadn’t interfered and had my little temper tantrum, you’d have him.”

  “You thought I’d betrayed you.”

  “Stupid, after I calmed down. You didn’t know for sure I’d show up.”

  “It’s cold out there.” Enoch motioned her inside. He switched on a dim light and shook his head. “You look like shit.”

  “You sure have a way with words.”

  He closed the door and unbuttoned his shirt, offering his neck. “Even rats are smart enough to stay somewhere warm in weather like this. If you’re not going to eat, you need to find some place to hibernate.”

  “I just need a break. I haven't had much sleep lately. Is your offer still good? Can I stay here a few days?”

  “The bedroom on the left doesn’t have windows. There’s a guest bed and clean sheets.”

  She licked her lips, couldn’t take her eyes off the pulse at his neck.

  “If you feed now, you won’t be hungry for weeks. It will buy you some time.”

  “What are you?” she repeated.

  He pulled her to him gently. “A friend.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Then don’t, but if you bite me, I won’t feel pain.”

  She couldn’t help it. She sank her fangs into his neck. While she fed, he cradled her to him, made her feel warm and safe, but it was a struggle. Her lips moved against his neck as she drew in the warm fluid. The rhythmic sucking aroused him. Her hands gripped his shoulders in a needy embrace. Her lithe body pressed against, her firm breasts mashed against his chest. Her nearness sent spasms of need through every inch of him, made him want more. He pushed those urges away. He didn't want her to feel that his blood came at a price. It was a gift, an offering, not a bargaining tool.

  When she finished, she pulled away and her long tongue darted out to lick the spot where the wound had been. "Your blood doesn’t run out. It tastes different. What are you?”

  She had every right to ask that question. She'd been turned once before. She had to worry about it now. “Even if I tell you, you won’t believe me.”

  “Try me.”

  He took a deep breath. Here's where he'd lose her. Once she realized that he was responsible for what Caleb had done, she'd hate him. “Okay, here goes. I’m an immortal—like Caleb. Danny doesn’t know.”

  At Caleb's name, she hissed. Not surprising. Her coloring was healthy again, her hair soft and smooth. “Caleb's an angel, right? Punished and sent down here?"

  "You know that?"

  "Every vampire does. He wants us to. Then we know we can never turn on him and drain him."

  That made sense. Caleb was their creator. He'd make sure they understood they could never defeat him.

  She studied him. "You're an angel too? What did you do wrong?"

  "Misplaced loyalty."

  "I didn't know angels could screw up. But who am I to argue? So… why are you here? Do you have a message to deliver? Is the end of the world upon us?”

  He smiled. “I’m on a mission.”

  “Go on.”

  "It's a long story."

  "We have all night."

  He started at the beginning, with Caleb wanting to join Lucifer. When he mentioned Caleb's name again, she bared her fangs. Just what he'd expected. He went on to tell her how he interfered, about his constant struggle and battles, and he told her about the Light. “So you see, now that you know, I wouldn't blame you for hating me. If I hadn’t tried to save my friend, you wouldn’t be a vampire now.”

  She surprised him. She shook her head. “You didn’t make Caleb what he is. He did. How would you know what he'd do here on Earth? And you didn’t make me a vampire. One of Caleb's first converts—his favored of favorites—did.”

  I
t took Enoch a moment to process that information. “Vlad’s the one who bit you?” He could barely make himself say the name. Vlad had been a constant thorn in his side, a perpetual source of disagreement between him and Caleb.

  Her talons sprang out, a reflex reaction, he could tell. “You know him?”

  “He's plagued me through the centuries. Caleb protects him. I've hunted him over and over, but Caleb calls him home to hide him.”

  Voronika hugged herself. “He’s pure evil.”

  “Vlad liberated you?” Enoch couldn't imagine Vlad doing anything decent or good.

  “No.”

  The one word spoke volumes. She was a runaway. Vlad was a menace and unpredictable. If he found her… Enoch swallowed hard. “No Caleb, no Vlad. I’m sorry.”

  She took his hand, stroked it. “Both of us have fought too many battles we couldn't win. I need to sleep now. My new digs didn't work. I've spent night after night listening for someone to come to stake me. But when I'm rested, I'd like to show you how much I appreciate your help.”

  "You don't have to…"

  She stood on tiptoe and pressed her cool lips against his. The sensation jangled through his nerves and set them on fire. "I know. That's why I want to. Stay home tomorrow night if you can. I have plans for you." She started to break away, though he longed for her to stay. As if she'd read his mind, she turned back and pressed closer. Her kiss deepened. She gave a low moan, and her long tongue probed his mouth. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, and her legs circled his waist.

  Before he knew it, they tumbled onto the sofa, groping and panting. Clothes fell to the floor. He cupped her firm breasts and bent to kiss them. She gasped and arched. His tongue circled her nipple, and she thrust her pelvis toward him, pulling him on top of her. When they lay, spent, in each other's arms, his body was coated with sweat. He panted from exertion and tried to collect himself.