by Tiffany Foxe
Click.
The door unlocked. Sophie stammered to her feet, bolted toward Em and threw her over her shoulder. Em watched her arms dangle on the ground as the wolves struggled to their feet. The creatures gained their footing and sprang toward the two of them. Sophie opened the door, slipped inside and slammed it shut behind her. Em gasped when she closed the door. She watched in horror as her arms lay caught in the doorway, although to her surprise, it didn’t hurt. She stared at them, half on one side of the door, half on the other. The wolves paced back and forth, seemingly deciding upon their next move.
Sophie walked past the elevator and entered the stairwell. Em’s arms dragged along behind them, sliding their way through the entrance from outside. Em felt relief knowing that all of her body parts were finally in the same area. Sophie set Em on her feet.
“Hold tight.” Sophie grabbed Em’s waist and pulled her close. She looked up the spiral staircase and spread her wings. Em’s nerves stood on edge as she wrapped her arms around Sophie. She noticed her arms were normal length, again. How odd, she thought, but what a relief. Sophie sprang into the air with a jolt that Em wasn’t prepared for. She clung tighter. The feeling was exhilarating, like an amusement park ride. She flapped her wings but couldn’t expand fully for lack of room. Sophie glided down over the staircase railing and gently set Em down. Em’s heart was racing.
“Whoa,” she whispered.
They were standing in front of Em’s apartment door.
“Key?” asked Sophie.
Em flipped through her keys, again, and opened the door. They walked inside, Emiline first. Em turned on a lamp.
“Where did all this grass come from?” Emiline asked in amazement. What had once been the carpet was now nothing but natural turf and dirt. Emiline grunted. “This is gonna take forever to vacuum!” she complained, throwing her arms out and turning in a circle to take in the full extent of this newfound workload she would be taking on. She plopped on the floor and touched the grass. To her surprise, it felt just like real blades of grass: smooth, cold. Nothing like carpet.
“You should get some sleep,” said Sophie.
She was still standing at the entryway of the apartment.
“Sleep? I can’t sleep! I’ll bet there’s spiders in this grass! Who sleeps with spiders in their room? Are you kidding me?”
Sophie stepped forward. She came up to Emiline and knelt down.
“There aren’t any spiders. I promise.”
She grabbed Em’s hands which were still shifting back and forth over the grass. Em looked up.
“You need rest...and water. I’ll get you some water.”
Sophie stood up and walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cabinet. She filled it with water and briskly brought it into Em’s bedroom and set it on her nightstand. She came back to Emiline and helped her stand up. Em looked up in awe as Sophie lended her hand. The walls weren’t dancing, her arms were normal length, but she still saw the black velvety wings. Sophie escorted Em to her bed and tucked her in.
“Get some rest. You’ll feel better in the morning.”
Sophie shut off the lights. Em complied, lying in her bed as requested. But, she couldn’t sleep. Everything was too real, too intense.
She stared before her and swore she glimpsed the meaning of life. She gasped. In that moment, everything made sense. Nothing had ever been clearer. She struggled fiercely to hold onto it, to remember its meaning, and treasure its importance. It was so simple she wondered how she had ever missed it before. Yet, that was what made it so grand. The meaning was that there was no meaning. That explained it all. Why people suffer, harm others and themselves, and ultimately perish. The rapes, murders, tragic accidents, and wars. The lying, cheating, double-crossing, and blackmailing. The lack of justifiable retribution. Why some people never find true love or happiness and others never get what’s coming to them. People were endlessly striving to create meaning where there was none. It was all arbitrary. The realization and wholehearted acceptance of such a momentous, yet ordinary discovery released a great weight off her shoulders, and she felt her breath grow deeper and more relaxed. Content with her newfound nirvana, she closed her eyes and smiled.
Life was meaningless.
Chapter 5
Em awoke to Sophie laying beside her. She was watching her quietly a good two feet or so away. Sophie smiled.
“Morning, Sunshine.”
Sophie rolled toward Em and gently brushed the hair out of her face. Emiline gazed into Sophie’s eyes and felt yearning and serenity, each so strong and so contrary, she didn’t know what to make of it. Sophie caressed Em’s cheek with her thumb. Em felt her warmth and was at once relaxed and content. Sophie leaned in and kissed Emiline. Em was overcome with passion and in this moment, felt completely fulfilled. Her lips felt so soft, and Sophie’s hair fell down and enveloped Emiline’s face.
It’s like I’m in a cave.
A sweet, soft, nurturing cave. Her hair was smooth and smelled of coconut, her favorite scent. They kissed passionately. Em plunged into a complete state of euphoria.
Wah! Wah! Wah! Wah!
Em opened her heavy eyes. She pounded on the alarm clock and rolled on her back. She looked blankly at the ceiling. It was a dream...she suddenly felt as empty as her apartment.
***
Em arrived at work, coffee in hand, and plopped down at her desk. She felt in a daze, still trying to make sense of the three cases she had looked at, the surreal experience the night before, and the awesomely passionate dream sequence that followed this morning. She figured most of the previous night could be written off as a hallucinatory effect of that strange concoction she had consumed. However, she was still unsure of what to make of the cases or the dream.
She set her coffee down and pulled out a file from a pile on her desk. She opened it and looked over the contents. It was the second murder victim, the stripper from Corazon Diablo. The victim was found by a coworker in the back of the building with bite marks on the neck. The M.E. ruled the cause of death as hypovolemic shock caused by an impaled object. Em tried to picture the woman standing out back in the middle of her shift, taking her smoke break. A feral dog or wolf comes up and lunges at her neck. She turns aways, stumbles, falls and lands on a stake with the pointed side up...she scowled. It seemed improbable. Em had seen a few cases where the actual circumstances defied logic, but this...just gnawed at her.
“Hey! Where have you been?” Jack scurried over to his desk that faced hers and sat down.
“I’ve been calling you and calling you. I left messages. What the hell?”
“Me? Where were you last night?” asked Em.
“Me?! Where were you? I got there and you were nowhere to be found. What the hell happened?”
Em didn’t quite know how to answer this. She wasn’t sure herself.
“I was there. I saw the club owner and that woman from the Masquerade, talking together at a booth. Then, a waitress came up and starting talking...I couldn’t get her to leave…and then...I lost them. They went somewhere else in the building, the basement maybe. I don’t know.”
Jack was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, while he listened. He shook his head when she finished.
“So, where were you? Why didn’t you call or something? I spent all night looking for you. I came by your place and knocked on the door.”
So that’s what that was.
Em vaguely remembered hearing a noise and thinking it was footsteps. It must’ve been Jack knocking on her door.
“I’m sorry, Jack. I really am. I had a drink when I was at the club and I think it was a bit strong for my blood. I got a ride home and...I must have passed out. I’m so sorry.”
Jack sighed.
“Well, at least you’re okay. But, you seriously can’t keep disappearing like this.”
He uncrossed his arms and grabbed a file from his top desk drawer. He flopped it on Emiline’s desk.
“What’s this?”
; “Lucille del Rey. She owns the Corazon Diablo and a number or other swanky joints. On paper, she appears to be an upright citizen. She pays her taxes, donates to several charities, and apparently, her employees love her.”
Jack shrugged.
“She’s clean.”
“What charities?”
“Uh, quite a few, all education based. It’s in there.”
He pointed at the folder.
“Del Rey,” said Em.
“Any family? Spouse?”
Jack shrugged and shook his head.
“Couldn’t find any.”
Em closed the folder.
“Did you find anything on the Masquerade employee?”
“Not as much. Sophie Shepherd, 31. Holds an M.D. license in several states, including Washington, and owns the divey bar known as the infamous Masquerade. She doesn’t appear to be employed anywhere as a doctor, though.”
“She told me she just ran the Masquerade!” Em protested.
Jack shook his head.
“It’s strange. Who goes through all of the work of becoming a doctor and then doesn’t work as one? All that money to go to school.”
“Where did she go to school?”
“I don’t know, but I know her license is current.”
Emiline felt frustrated. Getting information about this woman was like pulling teeth. But, she now knew something for sure; Sophie wasn’t lying when she said she was a doctor. She wondered if she was also telling the truth about finding the body outside her bar. If so, why did she run? There were too many red flags with this woman. Running at the sight of a cop, which should be a sign of help and assistance, her assertion of not knowing or ever seeing the victim, the fact that she knew the owner of where the second victim was found. Em knew she tied into it somehow; she just couldn’t quite put her finger on how.
Then, of course there was the whole “werewolves are real” thing. Yes, the dog bites, they didn't make sense, but some supernatural explanation was hardly the answer.
"Jack? Do you know if those bites were post mortem?"
"Uh...no. Both vics painted the town red."
"What about that murder on the river? With the two marks on the neck?"
"In the Couve? I don't know. From what I've heard I don't think there was much blood at the scene, if any, really. But, he could've been killed somewhere else then dropped. I don't know what the M.E. found."
Em leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
“Could you find out for me?”
Jack shrugged, then nodded his head in acknowledgment.
“I don’t think they’re related, but there’s one way to find out.” He picked up the phone and began dialing.
“Thanks. I’m gonna go check something out,” she said as she got up from her desk.
“Wait, what?” Jack hung the phone up. “Where are you going? You, know they call us partners for a reason. We’re supposed to be investigating this, together.”
“I know. I’m just gonna go ask Phobos something while you make that call.”
Jack squinted his eyes at Emiline as if he were sizing her up. He leaned back in his chair.
“Alright,” he finally said. “But, any footwork you’re doing with me,” he insisted. “No more disappearing.”
Em nodded and headed for the medical examiner’s room. Jack picked up the phone again and dialed the Vancouver office.
Em entered the M.E.’s room to find Cecelia busy examining a victim. Cecelia stopped when she realized she had company.
“What can I do for you, Zadok?”
“Hey, I was just wondering your take on that victim they found on the riverbank with the two marks on the neck?”
“I don’t really know anything about it. Not my case.”
“Yeah, I know. I just figured you may have heard something about it, and ya know, might have a theory on what happened. Two puncture marks on the neck, no blood, found by the shore.”
“Sounds like a snake bite. There’s a lot of homeless around. Maybe, he was sleeping and...”
“Yeah, but there wasn’t any swelling like a snake bite, and the punctures were right on the artery.”
“Sounds like you know more about it than I.” Cecelia shrugged.
“Well...any ideas?” asked Em.
“Well, there should have been a lot a blood with an open artery. Without looking at the victim myself…” Cecelia shrugged.
Em nodded in dismay and headed back to her desk.
Jack was sitting at his desk, twisting his chair back and forth and twiddling his pen in his hand.
“What did Phobos say?”
“Nothing, really. There should have been a lot of blood on scene. That’s it.”
“Well, the vic. did lose a lot of blood, and the puncture marks on the neck were too big to be from a snake.
“It wasn’t a snake?”
“No venom, no swelling...it wasn’t a snake. His clothes were soaking wet. They’re attributing it to a cult and some bloodletting ritual. They’re saying it was done in the water, hence the lack of blood on scene,” said Jack.
“Do you know of any cults like that around here?” asked Em.
Jack shook his head.
“Baldawin. Zadok,” Captain Reynolds called from his office.
They both got up and went into the office. Reynolds shut the door behind them.
“I just got word you’re asking about that Vancouver case. And someone saw you snooping around that crime scene,” he glared at Emiline.
She avoided his eyes and focused on the floor.
“Drop it. It’s not our jurisdiction.”
Baldawin and Zadok looked at each other.
“Anything come up on the two vics that are in our jurisdiction?” he asked, scornfully.
“Nothing new, Cap.” said Baldawin.
“One may have been murdered. Impaled, to be exact,” she said.
“I thought she fell and impaled herself,” said Baldawin.
Em snapped her head toward Baldawin. She scowled. He was supposed to be backing her up, not making contradictions.
“Well she definitely didn’t bite herself,” said Zadok.
“You watch it. You’re already on thin ice,” warned Reynolds. He placed his hands on his hips. “Well, from what I’m hearing from you two and Cecelia is that we have two deaths involving some hungry dogs running around.”
“Oh, come on. Doesn’t that seem a bit weird?” started Emiline.
“You’re off the case. Close it. Clean up your paperwork. We’ve got other cases to solve.”
“But, Captain…” Em interjected.
“No.” He raised his hand. “Clean up your paperwork. Jump on something that actually involves foul play...by humans.”
The two detectives exchanged a glance. They knew there was nothing they could do but obey orders. Em moped out of the office and went about completing her paperwork in order to close the case.
She left the precinct a little after six that morning, and went straight to her apartment. She was spent and longed to feel the cool touch of her sheets against her skin. She arrived at her doorway and proceeded to insert her key into the lock when she noticed something on the floor in front of her door. She stooped down to pick it up. It was an invitation to an event at the Masquerade Lounge. The event was at nine o’clock that night. An invitation coming from there seemed strange, considering Em had only been a nuisance to Sophie and her business. Yet, Em still wasn’t satisfied with the answers she had gotten for those three deaths. Em felt certain they were linked and Sophie knew more than she was letting on. Maybe, this was just the opportunity to dig a little more, unofficially, of course.
Em opened her apartment door, shuffled inside and plopped into the welcoming plushness of her bed covers. She was out in seconds.
Em awoke later that afternoon to the sun intruding in her bedroom. She squinted angrily at the bedroom window and wondered why on earth they would put windows where people slept.
She gr
abbed her phone and checked the time, 3:51 p.m. She sighed and flopped on her back. She stretched her arms out and yawned.
“So sleepy,” she complained to herself as she groggily rolled out of bed.
She grabbed her phone and texted Jack about the Masquerade invitation while she made herself some coffee.
***
That night Emiline arrived in front of the building where she had found the first body while patrolling the streets. She pulled out her invitation and looked at the wording: “Masquerade Lounge.” She looked over at the sign on the building: “Masquerade Bar.”
“Hmm.”
She flipped the card and looked it over. There was no street address on the invitation. She walked in hesitantly. Music blared in her ears as she entered the dingy bar. She looked left to right, and then at the bar, itself. No one was around. She looked back at the entrance for an “hours of operation” sign, but didn’t see one. But, the door was open, lights were on, and music was blaring, so she figured they must be open. She walked over to the bartop and leaned over the counter to have a look. No one was behind the counter. It seemed strange to find no staff on duty. She slowly reached for her holster and unsnapped the button holding her piece.
She had dressed down a bit more than she would for work, hoping to blend in at the event. She didn’t want to come off as an obvious cop, but she also wanted to be able to move quickly if need be. So, she had decided on a nice white v-cut top, dark jeans, knee-high brown boots with a slight heel, but ones she could easily run in, and a brown leather jacket to cover her gun.
Em felt a rush of cold air blow on the back of her neck. She turned around to find a man and woman entering the bar. They were conversing and laughing. The man was wearing a black and white pinstriped zoot suit and the woman wore a black dress and heels. Her hair resembled hairstyles of the forties era. The couple looked drastically out of place in this dive. Em figured they must have just come from a party. She watched them stroll by her. The couple glanced over at Emiline, turned their noses up and advanced up the stairwell. Curious, Emiline walked over to the stairs and watched them go up. She waited a moment so as not to be obvious, then followed them up the stairs. After several flights the couple walked over to a door where a man sat, apparently guarding the entrance. The man must have known the couple because he cheerfully greeted them and opened the door for them as they went in. Em stretched her neck, leaning over the stair railing straining to see inside the doorway. All she could see, however, was the couple as they entered. She took a breath and decidedly advanced up the stairs to the door which the stylishly dressed bouncer guarded. He was wearing a gray suit and fedora which reminded Em a bit a Al Capone. She was starting to grasp that this might be a themed event, in which case, there was no way she would blend in. She began to feel antsy. The guard looked Emiline up and down as she walked up to him. He held a knife in his hand which he used to trim his fingernails.
