by Ranae Glass
The freight elevator at the back of the empty hanger was old and rusted. The rust alone was probably frightening enough to keep any nosy humans out, but Richard wasn’t one to risk anything. There was a biometric scanner hidden beneath the old control box. Shane wedged it open and placed his hand on the scanner. In seconds, the archaic machine began lowering him into the depths of the bunker. Halfway down the lift, it stuttered to a halt and the bottom dropped out, leaving Shane to plummet the rest of the way down. He landed on one knee, half crouched. Looking up at the shaft, he realized that fall would have killed a human.
“Shane,” came a voice from the darkness. “What brings you to my corner of hell?”
Richard stepped into the small shaft of light. He was gaunt, his cheeks sunken in, eyes black and hollow. His lips were thin, stretched tightly over yellowed teeth that gave him a disturbingly emaciated look.
Shane pulled two bags of donor blood out of the back of his pants and tossed them to his brother. “I stopped for takeout,” he said and smiled as Richard caught the bags and looked at them like they might bite him back.
“Bags? Really? You know I like the fresh stuff.”
Richard was the only other living bloodline of Irena Tarkeroff, the vampire who had sired Shane. He was very old and very crazy. Xavier had told Shane that Richard was a promising doctor before Irena got her claws on him. She changed him and left him for dead. It was a habit of hers, one that eventually got her killed. Being left with no Conclave to teach him after the change, Richard had gone feral in turn-of-the-century London before finally being hunted down by his own. Rehab for vampires wasn’t exactly two weeks in the Betty Ford clinic. It was more,the rest of time in a dark basement.
Over the years, Richard had discovered a love for all things computer. It was his only contact with the outside world. Shane tried not to bring too many things to him, but he needed someone to help him make sense of the notebooks.
“Fresh out of that, but I did bring you something else. A puzzle. You interested?”
Shane held out the notebooks. Richard snatched one and held it under his nose, sniffing deeply.
“Smells like vampire,” he sniffed again, “andwere, and… something else.” His black eyes blinked, and he looked up at Shane like he’d just been given a magic lamp.
Richard led Shane into a metal cage full of computers, microscopes, machines, and spare parts. It looked like a laboratory on steroids. With one smooth motion, Richard swept clear his workbench, everything else crashing to the floor. He sat the notebook down and cracked the spine open.
“It’s a record of experiments. Whoever this belongs to was… it looks like they were experimenting withwere blood, trying to create a retrovirus.”
“To what?”
“The Vlad virus.”
Shane stared at him blankly.
Richard slid a pair of rubber gloves onto his wrinkled hands. “The Vlad virus is the virus that creates vampires.”
“It’s a virus?”
“Of sorts. Impossible to replicate synthetically. It alters the base DNA of anyone who comes in contact with it.”
“Is there awerevirus?”
“See, you’re catching on. Yes. And if you could combine them, you’d have, in theory at least, a super virus.”
“That would do what?”
“Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? Who knows? The viruses are so fundamentally different, and for thewere virus, you have to be a genetically compatible carrier for the virus to even manifest. It’s all very tricky. Mother Nature doesn’t like us to screw with her creations.” Richard laughed coldly as his finger skimmed the paper at a frightening speed.
Shane cleared off a stool and took a seat across the bench. “So someone was experimenting with the viruses?”
Richard paused. “Interesting. According to this, the researcher was trying to isolate specific characteristics of each. They wanted to keep the traits like healing, reflexes, and sensory elevation. They were trying to use pieces of thewerevirus, specifically the part that allows carriers to continue to age.”
Shane shook his head. “Wait, so they were trying to breed a mortal vampire?”
“Looks that way.”
Shane sat back, stunned. Why would Xavier be trying to create a vampire that could age, could die? It didn’t make any sense. Not worrying about aging or death was one of the few selling points of being a vampire.
“If it makes you feel any better, there’s no way they could have succeeded.” He spun the notebook around for Shane and pointed to a series of equations that looked like gibberish. Shane raised one eyebrow. Richard sighed and explained. “There’s no way to bond the virus. It isn’t cohesive. There’s a missing piece. The glue, if you will, that holds the virus together isn’t there. It just breaks down in the system. And according to these notes, every trial they did failed.”
“How many?” Trials. Experiments. Dead vampires andweres.
“Well over a dozen, just in this notebook. There are probably many more like this, all the same. Failures.”
“And there’s no way to make it work?”
Richard shrugged. “Not with these samples. Like I said, there’s a piece missing. If you could find a medium that would bind the viruses, then maybe. But even then, there’d be no way to predict what traits would pass into the subject. They could get fangs and fur, or just bad breath and a sun allergy. It would need to be tweaked in trial. Can I keep this?”
Shane nodded. He didn’t need it. He had another. But now… now he wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never been particularly good at strategy games. He just didn’t have that innate ability to see moves that far in advance. Being a vampire hadn’t really helped that.
“Do you want me to try to make the serum work?” Richard asked impatiently, like he’d already asked once and Shane hadn’t heard him.
“Can you? You said it would never work.”
Richard bit his top lip. “I can take a crack at it.”
What were the odds? If Richard could make the serum work then maybe, just maybe, he could still have the life he wanted, the life he planned. Or at least a version of it. But then…
He shook his head. “No trials. No one should have to die to chase a cure that probably doesn’t even exist.” That would make him no better than Xavier. “But I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just take a look.”
Richard smiled, and it wasn’t a friendly look. “You always bring me the best toys.”
He’ll be here, Sue whispered gently inside my head as I pulled a bottle of soda from the fridge.
I felt stupid, standing in the kitchen in my tall, black boots and red skirt.
“All dressed up and nowhere to go,” I mumbled, taking a big gulp.
As if on cue, the phone rang. I walked with deliberate slowness to pick up the cordless. If he was going to cancel on me, I wasn’t going to rush into it.
“Hello,” I answered, waiting for the letdown. “Stone Private Investigations. How can I help you?”
“Isabel? I need to see you right away.”
I exhaled, flopping into my kitchen chair. “Xavier. I haven’t gotten a chance to look into Melanie’s aunt yet. I just need a few days…”
“It’s not that. There has been an… issue with my nephew. I require your assistance.”
I looked at the clock on the microwave. 7:25 pm. “Yeah. I’ll be right there.”
“Quickly, please.”
“I’m on my way.”
i
I didn’t have time to change so when I showed up at the door to the Conclave, I was still wearing my date-night outfit. I expected some kind of smart comment from Xavier, but he didn’t even bat an eyelash. Ahnarra met me at the door and half dragged me up the stairs to what I assumed was Devon’s room. There were two guards at the door and only Xavier and Gerard were inside. Xavier was sitting on the bed, his face pale and slack, as if all the emotion had been washed off. Gerard stood blocking the doorway to the bathroom. I went to Xavier. He didn’t lo
ok at me, so I laid a hand gently on the side of his face.
“I’m here,” I whispered.
He didn’t move. I glanced up at Ahnarra, who motioned toward the bathroom with a jerk of her head. Gerard huffed and stepped aside just enough for me to see past him. The bathroom was covered in blood. It dripped from the mirror above the sink and ran down the walls in crimson streaks. My stomach rolled, trying to force up the bubbly soda from earlier. I held it down.
Look past the blood, Sue whispered, and I obeyed.
I blinked. The shower curtain was pulled back, exposing the empty porcelain tub smeared with red handprints. Pushing my way into the room, I looked over the lip of the tub, expecting the worst. It was empty. I glanced around the room quickly. Blood, blood. No body.
“Gerard, did you move the body?” I tried to whisper, which was stupid. It wasn’t like Xavier couldn’t hear me. He shook his head.
“We heard a scream,” Ahnarra interrupted, “broke in the door, and found the room like this. There’s no body. Just blood.”
“You’re sure it’s Devon’s?”
She nodded. Of course. They could smell it.
I looked back at the bathroom. Too much blood. Too much blood to lose and still survive, at least for a human.
“Wait, you had to break the door down? It was locked?” I asked.
Gerard nodded. “From the inside.”
“Can you smell anything else? Perfume, human, vampire? Anything?”
“I smell… cigar. It’s faint. Could be Devon’s,” Ahnarra offered.
Gerard inhaled and agreed with a nod.
“If someone else was in here, if someone or something came in here and hurt him, wouldn’t you smell them?”
Xavier blinks and turns his head to me. “What are you thinking?”
I held up my finger and crossed the room to the only window. Pushing open the glass panes, I leaned over the edge. We were on the third story of the east wing. Outside, there was a large cottonwood tree. Climbing onto the window ledge as carefully as possible, I reached forward. I was only about a foot short of being able to reach the nearest branch.
“What is the human doing?” Ahnarra asked behind me.
I grabbed the sides of the window, leaned back, winked at Xavier, and pushed myself out of the window. Grabbing the branch, I was able to swing onto the roof of the gazebo below and slid down the tile roof onto the soft ground. In a heartbeat, the three vampires had joined me, leaping directly from the window, bypassing the tree and gazebo. They landed without a sound, as if the jump were inches rather than stories.
I looked at Xavier, whose mask of indifference had morphed to irritation as he caught on.
“What about the blood? No human could lose that much and survive,” Gerard pointed out.
“My thought is bagged. He probably had his blood drawn over time and stockpiled it.” I turned to Xavier. “Which means he’s spent a lot of time and energy planning this.”
Xavier shook his head. “I have a hard time believing my nephew is so duplicitous.”
I shrugged. What was there to say? Either I was right and he was trying to play his uncle, or I was wrong and he was dead. I was willing to consider the opportunity. “Is there anything that could have gotten past security, into the room and out of the window, and not left a scent behind?” I looked to Gerard. He just glared.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
There’s one thing, Sue whispered in my head.
“What?” I asked out loud. Xavier tilted his head and stared at me.
A ghost.
“A ghost?” I didn’t realize I was still speaking out loud until I heard Ahnarra snort.
“Is that your best guess, Isabel? The Conclave is haunted?”
If a spirit were powerful, and very angry, it could do that. It could slice him up, then jump into his body once he was unconscious and keep him alive despite the blood loss.
I repeated that information to Xavier, who looked at me as if realizing for the first time that maybe I knew too much.
“I mean, it’s just an option. He’s in trouble with someone, and for some reason, he thinks the answer to all his problems is to become a vampire. It’s not a money thing or a relationship thing. That actually eliminates a lot of possibilities.”
“See, Gerard. This is why Xavier called her. She has very good instincts… for a human,” Ahnarra said, patting the Cleaner on his stocky shoulder. He shook it off. She looked to me. “Isabel, do you think you can find Devon?”
I looked to Xavier. “I think the police would be better equipped for this.”
Gerard shook his head. “If it is a ghost, or some other variant of paranatural, they would be outmatched. And besides, this is Conclave business.”
Now I got it. How would it look if the Conclave had to ask the human authorities for help? How could they publicly admit that someone or something walked right in their front door, kidnapped or killed the living relative of the head honcho, and walked out? That was why they called me. Because finding Devon was still second to saving face.
I shook my head.
They are like animals, Sue said in a calm voice.To show weakness is to risk being killed by the others. This petulant child has put them all in danger.
Sue was right. Besides, this was Shane’s family, Xavier’s family. “Alright. I’ll look into it. But I can’t promise anything. Let’s go back up to his room. I need to get a personal item.”
You are going to ask the psychic to look for him as well?
“You got any better ideas?” I mumbled, forgetting that the others could still hear me. I rolled my eyes. “I’m not crazy, okay? I just… have some personal issues right now.”
“Yes, she has a concussion. Right, Isabel?” I turned to see Shane walking across the lawn up to us.
"Oh, sure. Now you show up,” I said, teasing. He didn’t look amused.
He walked right up and kissed me between the eyes, pulling a strand of my hair and tucking it behind my ear. I was too stunned to move.
“Sorry I missed our date. I’ll make it up to you.”
Xavier cleared his throat. Shane turned to face him, pulling a notebook from under his jacket and tossing it at him. Xavier caught it and glanced at the cover, not even looking inside.
“We will discuss this in my office,” Xavier said coolly.
Shane inclined his head and took me by the hand. “After I take Isabel to get what she needs and see her to her car.”
As soon as we were back inside, I pulled my hand away. “What the hell, Shane? You got a death wish or something?”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so overdramatic.”
“Me? You just sassed the Chancellor of Conclave, Shane.”
He smirked. “Did I sass him? Was I being sassy?”
I punched him in the arm, bruising my knuckles. “It’s not funny. You were already on thin ice here. What could possibly possess you to risk your position here?”
He shrugged as we climbed the stairs. “I dunno. Maybe I finally know what I want, and what I’m willing to do to get it.”
He lifted me into his arms and ran up the steps. I grabbed him around the neck, if only to keep myself from being sick as the walls blurred past my eyes. In moments, he was standing me on my feet in Devon’s room.
What did I say to him?
Tell him the truth, Sue answered.
“I can’t.”
Yes, you can.
“It’s too dangerous for you,” I said, looking right at Shane.
He looked nervously around the room, over his shoulders. “Who are you talking to, Isabel?”
I blinked.
Tell him.
“Are you sure?”
Yes. Tell him everything.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Fine. Shane, there’s something I need to tell you. You aren’t going to like it.”
The confused smile dropped off his face as he lifted Devon’s watch and held it out to me. “It’s Xavier, isn’t it?”
&
nbsp; Taking the watch, I rubbed my thumb over the face. I almost laughed. If only it were that simple. “You remember that séance that Nana Elsie asked me to go to? Well, the spirit who saw the murder go down sort of possessed me that night. She’s been occasionally hijacking my body until we can find the body and put the murderer away.”
He looked at me for a minute, and then laughed. “You know, you could just tell me you aren’t interested.”
I cringed. “I’m not uninterested. I’m sort of… possessed. The other day, the picnic and the beach…”
His smile vanished. “Oh my god. You’re serious. I knew something was off… Wait, so that whole day was—?”
“Sue. Her name is Sue. Yes.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “And that night?”
This was my out. I could lie; I could blame it all on Sue.
Don’t you dare!
When I didn’t answer immediately, he paled, looking sick. He grabbed my arms. “Isabel, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it wasn’t you. I mean, I just… oh God.” His voice was overflowing with guilt.
No, I couldn’t do that to him. “No, Shane, it was me. When you walked me to my room, Sue faded away. She gave me the choice. I could have said no. It was all me.”
The relief flooded over him, relaxing his features.
“So she’s still in there now? How do I know I’m talking to you?” He was looking in my eyes as if searching for her image behind them.
I blew a raspberry.
“Oh, good. It is you.”
Without a second thought, I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him. I could feel his surprise at first, but he quickly relaxed, wrapping his arms around me.
He pulled back, keeping his forehead pressed to mine, his eyes still closed. “I should get you out of here before Xavier blows a gasket.”
I backed away enough so I could look up at him. “Do you think it will be that bad?”
“Well, I can hear him in his office. He’s cussing but not breaking things, so I think I’ll survive.”
