Past Life

by C S Winchester

  Zoe nodded. She collected her clutch bag and shoes and headed out. Once the door was closed Frankie turned to Will.

  “That was some quick thinking,” she said. “I'm impressed.”

  “I'm not. I just lied to that girl. And if she tries to make a complaint about getting knocked over, this is all going to unravel.”

  “She won't,” Frankie said with confidence. “She trusts the police and she won't want to be implicated in Dante's alleged fraudulent activities. She'll sleep it off and move on with her life.”

  “I hope you're right.” Will said. “What's our next move.”

  “There is no move,” Frankie answered. “This isn't your case and whatever the hell is going on here, I don't want you involved.”

  “Fine by me but you're my ride, remember?”

  “Oh, right. Do you want me to take you home?”

  “No, I was just wondering what you'll do next.”

  “Verify her story,” Frankie said, heading into the bedroom.

  She hadn't had time to don her gloves before coming here, so she sat on the bed and put her hands on the sheets either side of her.

  A lot of images assaulted her, various partners and positions. Just seeing him kiss another man had made her blush, but this was positively x-rated. Still, she tried to focus and sort the most recent psychic images from the others.

  Finally she filtered out the impressions that Zoe had left and began to sort through them. Her story had been pretty accurate. Frankie saw Dante pull away from Zoe in pain. She saw him grab his phone to call Frankie. She saw Zoe scrambling off the bed to check on him. Next she saw Zoe sitting back down on the bed and start pulling her clothes on.

  Frankie opened her eyes and stood up.

  “Ugh, I hate doing that.”

  “What did you see?” Will asked.

  “Nothing new.” She knelt down near where Dante had fallen. If his kidnapper was either a vampire or hadn't touched any surfaces, there wouldn't be any images for her to see, but she had to check.

  She moved her hands across the floor, searching for impressions that were left last night. Finally she found one. Whoever had come into the apartment had dragged Dante out, touching the floor briefly as they grabbed Dante under his shoulders.

  She opened her eyes suddenly, looking shaken.

  “What did you see?” Will knelt down beside her.

  “It's him, the guy from this morning. Or yesterday morning. The one who's been killing pets.”

  “He took Dante?” Will asked.

  “Definitely him.” Frankie nodded. “His thoughts are in a foreign language, like this morning and he left some of the same memories.”

  “Are you okay?” Will asked, noticing Frankie was looking very pale.

  “I'll be fine,” she said, pushing herself back to to her feet.

  Next she did a sweep of the apartment, touching almost every object that Dante owned, looking for any indication of where Dante had been taken or why the pet-killer wanted him. When her hands began to tremble, Will insisted that she take a break and began looking through the cupboards for something sugary.

  For someone who didn't eat, he noticed that Dante seemed to have a lot of food in his kitchen.

  “It's a cover,” Frankie explained when he asked. “Empty cupboards would draw suspicion.”

  Will handed her a glass of orange juice which she drank gratefully, then when her shaking eased off, she continued her search.

  Will still thought that she looked a little pale and clammy, so he kept his eyes on her, just in case she pushed herself too far. When she had finally examined almost every surface in the apartment for psychic impressions, he sat her down once again and got another glass of fruit juice for her.

  He gave her a while to get her equilibrium back then asked what she'd been able to put together.

  “Not much, he didn't touch many places.”

  “Anything might help, so just tell me everything you can remember.”

  “Okay. He poisoned Dante by spiking Zoe's drink.”

  “You can poison vampires?” he asked.

  “I remember now that Dante once gave me a potion. If a vampire drinks it they'll die but if a human drinks it, it will incapacitate any vampire that feeds off their blood.”

  “So how did he know Dante would hook up with Zoe?”

  “I didn't see that, but I would guess he's been following Dante and saw them together tonight. I think he's been looking for Dante for a few months.”

  “Why?”

  “Something about his blood,” she shook her head as though trying to clear it. “But I couldn't see any specifics. And I really don't understand this part, but he has memories of Dante that look at least 80 years old.”

  “Are you saying our killer is an octogenarian?”

  “No, Zoe glimpsed him before he knocked her down, he's middle-aged. Or at least he looks middle-aged.”

  “But he's not a vampire?”

  “No.”

  “Could be be using vampire blood to prolong his life?”

  “That would make sense.” Frankie frowned; that idea really should have occurred to her.

  “Do you know where Dante is?”

  “I could see a room with a bed and silver shackles, but I couldn't see where it was.”

  “You're wrung out,” Will said. “Come on, let's get you home, you'll feel better after some more sleep.”

  Frankie nodded, knowing that she had done all she could here. Because she still looked pale, Will insisted on driving and once back at the apartment he settled Frankie into bed.

  “I need to show my face at work,” he told her. “I'm up so I'll go in early and get it over with.”

  Frankie nodded.

  “I'll bring breakfast back with me.”

  “Thank you.”

  Frankie had never used her gift for so long at any one time before tonight so even though she was worried about Dante, she was completely exhausted and the slumber that she fell into almost instantly was more like unconsciousness than sleep.

  When she awoke a few hours later, Will was still out. She made her way to the bathroom and brushed her teeth with her finger, since she'd forgotten to pack her toothbrush. She wanted a shower but without her own shower mat, there was nothing to protect her from the psychic impressions Will had left in there over the years. Then she'd have to dry herself using his towels and after the exertions of last night, just the thought of it made her shudder.

  She was also craving carbohydrates, so she put her gloves on and headed down to the kitchen to raid his cupboards.

  She was just taking the first sip of her coffee when Will returned.

  “I didn't expect you to be up,” he said, brandishing a McDonald's bag. “I brought breakfast. I remembered what you said about needing food after you use your gift, so I got everything on the breakfast menu,” he grinned, taking his egg muffin out of the bag and handing the rest to her.

  “Oh, you are my hero,” she smiled sweetly as she snatched the bag and began rummaging through it.

  “What's happening at work?” she asked. “Any leads?”

  “Not yet,” Will shook his head. “I left two officers going through the tip line calls. They'll call if then get anything promising. What about you, any thoughts on how to proceed?”

  Frankie took a deep breath as she mentally prepared her next statement.

  “It's not that I don't want your help, Will, but you can't be involved in this.”

  “But you're looking for the same man that I am,” he reminded her.

  “I know but this isn't just supernatural any more. The fact that a vampire is involved adds a whole new level of danger to things and I don't want you dragged into this mess.”

  Will put down his muffin and leaned across the breakfast bar until his face was just inches from hers. When he spoke his voice was soft yet firm.

  “Whether you like it or not, Frankie, this is my case and with or without your help, I am going to do everything in my power to
solve it.”

  “Why do you have to be such a stubborn bastard?” she glared at him.

  “I could ask you the same thing,” he said, sounding slightly amused. “Your choice is simple; let me help you and you can try and keep me safe, or I do this on my own and who knows what dangers I might inadvertently stumble into?”

  After a long pause, Frankie finally replied. “Fine.”

  Will sat back down, smiling now that he had got his way.

  “On one condition,” Frankie added.

  “Hm?”

  “You do everything I say, without question or hesitation. If I tell you to leave me, you go. If I tell you to stay behind, you do. If I tell you to jump-”

  “I'll ask how high,” he cut her off. “Deal.”

  Frankie looked him over for a few moments, until she was satisfied that he meant it. Finally she nodded her agreement and began to look through the bag of food again, as her stomach reminded her how hungry she was.

  “We need to go back to Dante's and get his phone,” she said. “Whoever this guy is, he's from Dante's past and I'm hoping Dante still has some of his American contacts on his SIM card and that they might know something about his history.”

  “Good idea.”

  Chapter Ten

  They returned to Dante's apartment as soon as they had finished eating, but this time Will stayed in the car as Frankie went up to the flat, so that they didn't waste time parking.

  Frankie scanned the apartment for auras to see if anyone was inside before she approached the door, but it was empty. As she leaned down with her lock pick gun, she realised that the lock wasn't damaged. The pet-killer must have picked the lock as well, which would mean he had spent a reasonable amount of time touching the door.

  She pulled a glove off and placed her right hand near the lock.

  He had used a set of old fashioned lock picks, so had spent quite a few minutes kneeling there. She began to separate out the images he'd left behind and mentally review each one of them.

  He was excited, he'd been looking for Dante for a while and could almost taste success. He wanted to use Dante's blood in a ritual. He was also feeling smug. She'd been right about the girl, Zoe, being drugged. He had mentally congratulated himself on his plan while he worked and Frankie finally had a name for him from the memories she was seeing. Pietro.

  Pietro thought about the room he had prepared, about how perfect it was, how much preparation it had taken, but she still couldn't see where the room was. It was soundproofed, but that didn't help her any.

  When she'd seen everything that she thought she could, she used her own lock pick gun on the door and retrieved the shattered remains of Dante's phone from the bedroom. As she rejoined Will in the car, she filled him in on what she'd discovered.

  “Does this help us at all?” he asked, quite reasonably.

  “Not directly, but we have a little more of the story to explain to Dante's friends, and we have a name for him. Though accurate, calling him the Pet Killer is now somewhat incomplete.”

  “Have you heard from your parents?” he asked as he began the drive back to his apartment.

  “No, and I don't want to,” she snapped.

  “Okay, I was just asking.”

  “I'm sorry,” Frankie sighed. “I just have too much to worry about right now, I can't worry about them too. But I shouldn't have snapped at you, so I apologise.”

  “No offence taken,” he assured her.

  Back at the apartment, Frankie sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen and began sifting through the phone parts, looking for the SIM card.

  “Why bring everything,” he asked, “Why not just bring the SIM card.”

  “Because if the SIM is damaged or his contacts aren't stored on there, I might be able to salvage some data from the chips and the memory card.”

  Will looked at the shattered remains of the phone, impressed with the resources at her disposal.

  She found the SIM card and inserted it in her own phone. The data was intact and she began to write a list of the American phone numbers.

  She found an entry for Rosa Gibbs, the head of the vampire council and wrote it down, though she left a question mark next to the name. After her last experience with the council, she really wasn't sure how they would take this turn of events.

  When she'd finished the list she had seven American telephone numbers to try. She checked her watch. “It's five am over there,” she said to Will, her expression asking if she should wait.

  “It's too early,” he said. “And it's even earlier on the west coast.

  “But I'm looking for another vampire and they won't be asleep.”

  “Why another vampire?”

  “Because vampires are very private. He's not likely to have told a human about events that happened before they were born.”

  “He told me about vampires,” Will countered.

  “Because he was trying to do something nice for me. And I still can't see him sitting you down to discuss what happened during the Great Depression, can you?”

  Will conceded the point with a shrug so Frankie put her own SIM card back in her phone and began making calls, starting with Alice J.

  As soon as the phone rang, she realised that she should have given some thought to what to say. She was about to hang up when the call was answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Can I speak to Alice, please?”

  “Speaking.”

  “Hi Alice, my name is Frankie. I'm a friend of Dante's and...” How did you ask if someone was a vampire without actually asking if they were a vampire, she wondered. “Are you... like him?” she cringed at the sloppy question.

  “In what way?” she sounded guarded.

  “Um, well are you... a night owl?”

  “I suppose.”

  “This isn't working,” Frankie sighed, resting her forehead in her palm as she thought. “Okay here's the situation. I work for the council, kind of anyway, and if you are like Dante you'll know what that means. Dante, who is my guardian, has been taken by someone from his past and I'm trying to find information on the man who took him. All I have is a first name, Pietro, so I'm going through Dante's phone and calling people in there. Has Dante ever spoken to you about someone called Pietro?”

  “No he hasn't,” her tone had switched from cautious to concerned. “How long has Dante been gone?”

  “He was taken last night,” Frankie checked her watch. “About six hours ago.”

  “Is this Pietro also like Dante?”

  “No, he's hu- He's just a regular guy.”

  “I see. I have friends here too, some of them know Dante so I'll see what I can find out for you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Before I do though, I take it you are not like Dante and I?”

  “No, I'm not.”

  “How can I be sure what you tell me is true?”

  “The head of the council over here, Rosa Gibbs, can vouch for me.”

  “Very good. Give me your number and I'll call if I discover any information.”

  When Frankie hung up she filled Will in on the conversation and rang the next phone number, listed as Alice M. Frankie hung up the phone seconds later.

  “What?” Will frowned.

  “I woke her up. Definitely not a vampire.”

  As she continued through the list, Will called the station for an update then began going through his notes again. He noticed that Frankie's gaze kept going to the wall clock. He didn't really understand why she was so attached to the vampires but it was also Will's job to find Pietro, so even though he had no desire to rescue the vampire, they did have a common interest.

  Frankie's next call went to voicemail, the next two turned out to be human and the sixth number was another vampire, Marcus.

  Just the sound of Marcus's voice made Frankie's skin crawl, but she told him what she had told Alice. He didn't have any information and he didn't offer her his help. Frankie hung up and tried the final phone number, getti
ng voicemail again.

  She sighed. They seemed to be at an impasse.

  “Coffee?” she asked Will.

  He looked up from his notes. “Please.”

  She handed him his mug and sat down with her own, then she pulled her pad out of her handbag.

  “So what do we know about Pietro?” she asked Will.

  Will took the pad from her. “I don't know anything. You tell me what you know about him while I write.”

  “Okay,” Frankie nodded. “Well he's from Dante's past, maybe 80 or more years ago.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “The clothes. Some of the men in his memories wore high neck collars and cravats, but I don't know enough about men's fashion to say any more.”

  “What could you see about where he intended to take your friend?”

  “I saw a room. It's meticulously planned out, a silver framed bed, medical looking tubes. The room is soundproofed. He's put a lot of time and effort into this operation.”

  “How big was the room?” Will asked.

  “Pretty big actually. And the lights were those long, industrial tube type ones, what do you call them?”

  “Fluorescents?”

  “Yeah, there were two massive fluorescent lights suspended from the ceiling.”

  “So probably not a private home then,” Will surmised. “Did you see any furniture or equipment we might be able to trace? You said medical equipment, what about a heart monitor or anything he might have stolen?”

  Frankie closed her eyes to examine the memory. “I don't think so. There's a couple of syringes, lots of clear piping, like you might find if someone was on a drip but I don't think it's specialist. He may even be improvising. We can check hospitals for thefts I suppose. Can you do it from work, because I can't access my computer right now?”

  Will nodded and jotted it down on the pad. He considered suggesting she try and make peace with her mother so she could use her computer for the investigation, but he decided to stay on topic for now.

  “So this guy's human, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does he look old?”

  “He's fairly young looking. Maybe forty absolute maximum, but Zoe literally only glimpsed him for a second so it's hard to be sure.”