Replacement

by Wojciech Cram

  necessary. I'm across the street from you. If you need help, I'll be there in a heartbeat.

  "What about Kotori?"

  She can fly away to safety and she's a better fighter than you are, Beth. She also has Alicia and Rodney to help her out. The three of them, plus the potential of background cover

  from me should be more than enough to keep Kotori safe.

  Beth nodded. She knew she looked silly doing it, but who was there to see it whose opinion mattered to her? The hooker? The two assailants? The sleeping drunk? She was nodding

  for Nick, knowing now that he could see her.

  "Is Zhi Niao ready?"

  "Yup."

  "Great. Let's do this. Sic, Louis."

  "Fuck you, Mac."

  The vampire—Mac—chuckled. "I've always wanted to say that."

  Bethany shuddered. Louis was shifting. She could hear him doing it. There was the sound of bones breaking and then mending as his knees changed directions.

  Seconds later, a wolf went running by, a grey blur. The few people out on the dangerous streets were crying out in fear. The wolf howled, reveling in their fear. Beth heard Kotori's

  voice joining in the cries and she knew the wolf had reached her friend. The joyful howl was suddenly shadowed by the roar of a bear. Beth's heart skipped a few beats out of fear

  from the sheer sound. She wished she could sound like that.

  Positioning herself where she could see the fight, Beth saw Alicia strike the wolf away from Kotori. She bit the wolf's neck, trying to force it to submit. Rodney, a male witch, stood

  in front of Kotori protectively. Fire had gathered in his hands, ready to fire.

  "Why hasn't the other man attacked?" she asked, speaking into the mike. "Nick, what's he doing? Nick!" Her voice had a panicked edge to it. Why wasn't he answering? Beth couldn't

  see what was happening if she had to remain hidden. If the man was about to do something that was going to hurt her friend, she wanted to stop him!

  I'm okay, he finally answered. The prostitute's one of them. She's got me tangled up in a grapple right now. The vampire's heading towards Kotori. See if you can stop him!

  Beth rooted her legs and lowered her shoulders, getting ready for a bull rush. She could hear the vampire coming her way. He was downwind, but she knew that he would smell like

  his menthol smokes: potent and overly sweet. His footsteps were coming hard and fast. He was running. Beth concentrated on the sounds of his footsteps, waiting for him to get

  within range.

  She took off before he could even see him, knowing he had drawn close. He was running down the sidewalk. Beth launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and

  drawing him down.

  The vampire went down hard. The wind was loosed from Beth's lungs from the impact on the pavement. The vampire was worse off but faster to recover. He pulled one leg free

  while Beth was getting back her second wind and kicked her hard in the face with the heel of his boot. The strike connected with her cheek. She could taste the blood running on to

  her tongue from the inside of her cheek.

  He paused for a moment. His eyes widened when he saw her face up close. "You're not human!"

  "Neither are you." She kept her eyes lowered, protecting them from his strikes and punches as he fought back, trying to shake her loose.

  She grappled back, trying to keep him pinned until someone could come and put the wooden handcuffs on him. Wood was the only thing to keep a vampire secure; they could break

  the metal ones. A second strike sent blood running down the opposite cheek from his nails. It hurt and the blood was uncomfortably warm and sticky but she tenaciously hung on.

  Her upper lip curled up in a snarl, revealing teeth which were a little too sharp to be normal.

  No matter how stubborn she was or how honest her intentions, he was too strong. Beth's stomach churned as he flipped her, pining her to the street and using his body weight to

  hold her down. She could feel shards of rock and glass from the street attempting to poke through her thick shirt. Her throat closed in fear when she saw his face. He was a nicelooking

  young man, with deeply tanned skin, jet black hair and blue eyes. He was obviously Native American, and of mixed descent somewhere along the lines, judging from his

  blue eyes. Shock ran through Beth when she saw his mouth open in preparation for striking her exposed neck. She tried to draw in the breath to scream but couldn't.

  Then his eyes locked with hers. There was an instant connection. His mind was right there. She could feel it, but she could not read his thoughts. He had been about to speak to her.

  The rest of the world drifted away. It was just him and her, and somewhere deep within herself, Bethany recognized him.

  I know you, she thought desperately.

  And then the sensation was gone. The connection was broken. He had pulled away and was running, retreating. The wolf had managed to escape Alicia and was running along beside

  him. Beth sat up, dusting off her clothes. Kotori was running over to help her from one direction, Nicolas from the other.

  "Did he hurt… God." Nick's face paled when he saw the bruise under the dirt on one cheek and the blood on the other. "You're bleeding."

  "It's okay, Nick." She took the hand Kotori offered her and pulled herself up. Kotori kindly helped to dust the rocks, dirt, and glass from her back.

  "No, it's not okay. You weren't supposed to get hurt."

  "She said it was okay, Nicolas," Kotori spat, unusually snappy.

  Nick glanced between the two young women. His gaze lingered on the blood running down Beth's cheek with shame, but it was when he turned to Kotori that he looked helpless.

  "Kotori, I…"

  "Drop it, Nick!" Even Beth looked up at her friend with surprise. Kotori's brown eyes were snapping with anger. Not even when Kotori turned away from the vampire and let Beth

  lean on her shoulder did she lose the anger and snap in her voice. "Come on. We'll get the first aid kit from the van and clean you up. Then I really need to get home. My parents

  are going to kill me if I stay out any longer."

  Beth allowed her friend to take her to the van, guiding her gently. She was quiet all the way home. Everyone was. The whole car felt somber, but while they were reflecting on their

  failure and its consequences, Beth could only think of one thing: who in the world had she been fighting?

  She'd met him years before. The idea of vampires had always scared Bethany, but not Nick. He was always kind and considerate and wonderfully smart. When she had started high

  school he had checked over all her essays. Beth admired Nicolas greatly. That admiration, in the course of an evening, had changed to agitation.

  What if… what if he liked her? What if that was the reason behind the sudden overprotectiveness? That would be problematic. For one, Beth didn't like Nicolas romantically. more like her teacher. She respected him and cared for his well being, and yes, she loved him in the way people loved on older brother, but she wasn't attracted to him. Worse,

  they worked together. Beth knew that if she was going to like a boy, he wasn't going to be her partner, and especially not her boss.

  Growing frustrated, Beth closed her science textbook. She was tired. She would finish her homework the following morning before class. As Beth walked down the narrow hallway

  to the washroom, she thought of the vampire boy with the blue eyes. Though she no longer felt a connection, she still could not shake the feeling of familiarity. She felt as though…

  she had seen the vampire before somewhere, long ago, or perhaps only for a moment. At elementary school, she decided, or maybe briefly at a party. Maybe it was not even

  unlikely that she'd seen his face on a wanted poster at work. That thought made her chuckle.

  Her toothbrush lay next to the bathroom mirror. Routine automatically kicked in and she picked it up, applyin
g toothpaste. It was only until she lifted her toothbrush to her teeth

  that she looked in the mirror and saw her own reflection.

  Instantly, everything clicked. He had Native American blood in him. She had Native American blood, too. He had blue eyes. She had inherited the red highlights from the Caucasian man who had raped her mother. What if he had gotten the blue eyes from his father?

  Yes. The way he held himself, the look in his eyes, the pride and arrogance in his voice. Yes! Staring at herself in the mirror, she could see it all now: the shape of the nose, the

  pride of not letting the world get to you, the glint of desire in the eyes that yearned to prove yourself, the tanned, cinnamoncolored skin, the shape of the mouth… Yes!

  toothbrush clattered into the sink.

  "Holy shit. I have a brother."

  Eliza's fretting still hadn't abated by the following morning. It was beginning to grate on her nerves, but Bethany decided that she could endure it for one more morning. Eliza was making her waffles, as if it was her fault for Beth joining the Daybreak Circle. The waffles smelled wonderful, the pleasant aroma drifting lazily about a kitchen filled with cookie

  tins, doilies, and goldcoloured wooden furniture. When Eliza set the plate down in front of Bethany, she nearly lost her appetite, reminded of the question she needed to ask her mother.

  "Mom… that man that raped my biological mother?" Eliza froze at once. Slowly, she became animated again, hiding her stoic face as she turned to the sink to rinse out the empty

  bowl of waffle batter. "Did they ever catch him?"

  She turned off the water and let out a heavy sigh. "Eventually."

  "So… so then, it is possible that he… he raped other people."

  "As much as it pains me to say it, yes. I suppose that it is entirely likely. Given his nature, it is frighteningly too likely that he did to it to some other poor woman." Eliza picked up

  the hand towel and began to dry off her hands, sitting across from Beth at the kitchen table. "This is a subject you've always tried your best to avoid. Why the sudden change in

  heart, Beth?"

  "At the fight last night there was a boy."

  The witch's eyes narrowed and her voice took a dangerous turn. Eliza was a sweet woman, but, like most witches, when the safety of her clan was threatened her anger and

  vengeance knew no bounds. It was a style of defense and aggression Beth had internalized long ago. "Was it the same boy who hurt you?"

  Beth stared at the waffles. The juice from the strawberries was staining the waffles pink. "Yes."

  Eliza's frame tightened. She shut her eyes, slowly opening them when she felt she had her emotions under control. "Did he ra… force himself on you?"

  "No! No, oh Goddess, no. Nothing like that! I… he… I think that he's my brother."

  She didn't know what to say. She folded the hand towel, making the corners match up perfectly, just because it gave her something to do. "And you're basing this on…"

  "Intuition? We look alike, facially. But he's older than me. I don't actually think he came after me. I think he came before me, and then, when he turned seventeen, then someone

  changed him into a vampire. If the man was caught, then it means that there's a record of his name and charges. Maybe Daybreak will be able to find some information on these

  kidnappers using the police files as a launching pad."

  Pushing back her chair, she leaned over the table and kissed Eliza's cheek. "I've got to get to Daybreak and tell them before school."

  "Do you need a ride?"

  "No. We were supposed to have a meeting this morning anyway to discuss what happened yesterday. Nick's on his way over to pick me up, and Kotori'll be coming with us. You just

  get ready for work, Mom. I can take care of myself."

  Eliza sighed and kissed Bethany back. "I know you can. Bethy. The problem is that I wonder if it's too much too fast. You're only sixteen—seventeen come the spring.

  thinking about boys and clothes and your grades, not saving the world and fighting crime. You're not a superhero, Beth."

  "Your brother."

  "Yes."

  "Huh."

  So far Alicia was the only one talking. Kotori was staring in surprise, Nicolas appeared dubious, and Roger, their witch, looked as if he was still processing the information Beth had

  presented to the Daybreak team.

  Alicia, a largeshouldered black woman in her midtwenties, leaned back in her chair. Her brown eyes twinkled and it was actually a little frightening. Alicia was rough and looked

  and acted that way. Heavily muscled, she was a powerhouse of strength and her voice was laced with poison. It was only after proving one's worth to Alicia that she revealed the

  delicate and sophisticated side of herself which balanced out the aggressive exterior.

  She was a member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and owned a farm outside of Victoria where she could keep her animals and let them run wild. She had

  three cats and four dogs and lots of cows, and claimed that she kept her physique by shoveling manure and hay. She could play the violin and when she worked out she listen to

  Bach. But one could only learn that if they were able to put up with her affronting nature and abrupt humor.

  "You know, Sugar, it doesn't surprise me that your brother is part of an evil, murdering gang. You're so good you need someone in your bloodline to balance you out."

  "I'm not that good," Beth counted sternly.

  "Of course you aren't, Sugar. No one is."

  Roger spoke up. "And you're suggesting we…"

  "Dig into the police records. If you find the records of the case, the names of his victims could be listed. Then we just find out which kid was born about eighteen years ago. Maybe

  we can get a name or an address or something we can use to try and identify the people involved. All we know at this point is that their group includes a male vampire who smokes menthol cigarettes, a male wolfshifter, and a prostitute."

  Kotori nodded. "Beth has a point. We don't exactly have a lot to go on."

  "But resorting all that man power to digging into something that may not even turn out to be fruitful…" Nick ran his hand through his red hair. The short strands of hair bounced

  back into place. "It's plausible, but I'm not going to put any men on it. You'll be on it, Beth. Kotori can help We'll secure the transcripts of the case files for you and you two can go

  through it to look for something we can use to identify that vampire. Class starts in twenty minutes for you two. I'll take you two to school and I'll pick you two up when it ends with

  the case files."

  "But I wanted to talk more about this whole brotherthing," Alicia whined. "I mean, this throws a wrench into the whole thing…"

  Nicolas straightened, frowning at Alicia. The bearshifter was hardly frightened, but it did remind her that she as speaking to a superior officer. "We can discuss that later. Right

  now, school." He touched Kotori's shoulder as he ushered the two girls out to the car. "We'll meet up again tomorrow morning to discuss things further."

  Nick pulled the car up to the front of the high school. Glancing in the back mirror he smiled at Kotori as she unbuckled her seatbelt. The corners of his eyes wrinkled from his smile.

  "Have fun at school, Kotori," he told her teasingly.

  She frowned back at him in the rearview mirror, her cheeks darkening. Both girls were aware that he was making fun of them for still being in school. "It's high school. It's rarely

  fun, but I suppose I can try. The school could always suffer a gas leak and let us all out early or something."

  Her response elicited a small laugh from Nick. Beth was undoing her seat belt as Kotori climbed out of the car. Nick reached across the front seat of the Buick to touch her hand.

  His eyes were open and friendly, but Beth could smell the fear on him. Decades of being a vampire had made him good
at lying and covering up his true feelings with a flawless mask, but nothing could stop his hormones from producing the unique smell of fear Beth could pick up from his skin.

  "Beth, I'd like to talk to you after school. After I pick you up, do you think we could go to get a bite to eat or a coffee or something?"

  The young shifter blushed. She was unable to help it. The color stained her cheeks prettily, but it was out of fear. She could smell Nick's fear increase, mixed with worry. Beth

  didn't have his skill at hiding her expressions, but she knew her apprehension wasn't showing on her face. It was seeping through her skin by smell, just as Nick's was. Beth was

  afraid Nick was going to tell her he liked her, putting her on the spot and trying to figure out how to shoot him down gently. Worse, what if this was him subtly asking for a date?

  "Please Beth?"

  "Okay," she agreed, pulling her hand from his. The scent of his happiness flooded the car. Beth tried to ignore it.

  Nicolas was smiling. "Don't look so worried, Beth. It's just going to be a nice little chat. I want to talk about…."

  The bell of the school rang loudly as she jumped out of the car, desperate to get away. She didn't need to hear it. She couldn't stand to see Nick's smile. Beth didn't want to see how

  happy he was if she was going to have to hurt him that evening. "I've got to go!" Lugging her bag over her shoulder, she bolted for the school.

  Boys were trouble. Beth didn't want anything to do with boys. They were complicated and timeconsuming. Didn't people know the Apocalypse was coming? Daybreak did. But rather

  than get stronger and figure out a way to stop it, everyone was pairing up, trying to enjoy romance and their time together before the world ended. Beth failed to see how it was

  romantic scrambling to get to first base with the first boy who'd kiss you just because you were afraid you'd never get the chance to feel it otherwise. She was planning on doing all

  that after the Millenium, when she had all the time in the world… and only if she could find a boy mature enough.

  Their headquarters were an hour outside of town, in an older log cabin. The house belonged to the Noel family. It had become their headquarters as their cause had grown. Now the