Cause of Death: Unnatural tcod-1

by Eliza Ford

  "Nick," Em broke in. "What are you talking about?"

  "I think I've found it. The warehouse. Well, I've found something we should look at. Shit, I've been drinking coffee out of that crummy machine for hours. Em, do you want to go and check it out?"

  He sounded so eager. Like a puppy with a stick.

  Em looked at Jarek. He had a resigned expression on his face. He shrugged.

  "Yeah, I've got time," she said into the phone. "Meet you at the lab?"

  Em made Nick stop for pizza before they headed off to the warehouse. She knew what that coffee machine in the office was capable of, and if Nick hadn't eaten he'd be strung out for hours.

  She also knew, thanks to Jarek's little re-con mission, that they were unlikely to find anything usable at the warehouse, even if Nick had found the right one. If she thought about it, she had to admit she'd chosen to come along on Nick's little adventure at such a crazy hour of the night because she wanted his company.

  She shared his meat-lovers with extra cheese, sucked down a Coke and watched Nick eat. He ate like he worked - with determination and with enjoyment. She envied him.

  He looked up at her and caught her watching him.

  "What?" he said smiling, a string of melted cheese stuck to his chin.

  She grinned. "Nothing." She reached across and brushed it off for him. He smiled goofily and kissed the inside of her wrist as she drew her hand back.

  "It's past midnight, Em. I hadn't realized. I totally lost track of the time. Sorry if I've spoiled your evening. You should have said no. We can always check it out tomorrow."

  "It's fine. I wasn't doing anything."

  "That family do I mentioned is on tomorrow - I mean, today. You still want to come with me?"

  That puppy dog look was back on his face, Em noticed. She loved it. He really wanted her to go.

  "Sure," she said lightly. "Of course I do."

  After the pizza, they'd set off for the harborside again, passing Alina's club with a line out the door.

  The warehouse was the one they were looking for, the one Will had 'told' her about. Em was impressed with Nick's sleuthing. Nice work, given he had so little to go off. She wondered what this 'random criminal vibe' was he was going on about.

  The building was tucked away at the end of a battleaxe block, nearly wall to wall with the surrounding buildings except for one narrow, dirty alley running along its south side. Whoever was using it certainly didn't have to worry about visibility.

  They found a door padlocked with a lock that looked so old Em was certain it would fall apart if she breathed on it. She dug a pick out of her handbag, and reached out to grab the lock. The instant her hand made contact with the metal, the all-too-familiar headache roared to the front of her mind. Em immediately pulled back her hand as if she'd been burnt. She stumbled back a little.

  "You okay?" Nick peered at her in the dim light.

  "Yeah," said Em, pushing back the hair that had fallen into her face. The headache had retreated as soon as she pulled her hand away. It was still there, throbbing in the back of her head, but the sudden flare up seemed to be over. "Yeah, it just ... there was a sharp bit, that's all."

  Nick looked dubious. Em didn't want to touch it again and she held the pick up for Nick. He ignored it, took a few steps back and then gave the door a good hard kick. It swung open.

  "Urgh!" Em immediately covered her nose. The stench that washed over them was almost unbearable. It was like a hot wave, the air thick with decay. In the back of her head, the headache pulsed and then bloomed like a rose, full and ripe all through her mind.

  Em stepped up behind Nick and buried her face in his shoulder in an attempt to filter the air. He turned to her and they stood there, one hand over their faces, their other arms around each other, surveying the carnage in front of them. They could both handle a few corpses, but this, this was much, much more...

  The warehouse floor was lined with bodies. Every single one of them was male, every single one of them was drained dry to an ashen grey pallor. Em shivered. No one vampire would ever have an appetite this large.

  'A bit of a mess' Jarek had said. A bit of a mess? Surely even the Family's commander in chief would have thought this worth mentioning. At the very least it was a gross violation of the Family's cull protocols.

  But this wasn't vampire...

  "What does this mean?" said Nick, appalled.

  Em could only shake her head. This wasn't a cull. This was mass murder.

  The next twenty four hours were hell.

  Nick called it in - it was his research that had found them the crime scene after all. Em stood with her back to the carnage and listened to him speak.

  "It's a warehouse. Back of Darkes Lane, the northern end," he said into the phone.

  There was a silence then which stretched out for longer than Em thought was normal. She looked at him. He had stepped out of the warehouse door to make the call, but was now staring in at the bodies with his eyes a little wider than usual and his expression blank.

  "I don't know how many," he said. "No," he was shaking his head, "no, I don't know how many, okay? We're going to need a few teams..." He trailed off. "Sorry, Robert. I haven't seen anything like this before. It's big. It's a mess. You'll see what I mean."

  Em felt sorry for him. She guessed this evening hadn't turned out the way he'd expected. He'd had a little triumph at the research, called Em and expected to have a fun-filled evening with a tinge of adrenaline as their little excursion confirmed his theories. Em hadn't expected this either. She'd thought they'd end up having some drinks together and moving onto bed and a different kind of adrenaline. The remains of the psycho killing spree spread out on the warehouse floor in front of them was not on either of their wishlists for the evening, she thought dryly.

  They waited outside the crime scene and watched for the first of the professionals to arrive. Nick paced back and forward across the narrow alley way. Em sat on the edge of the gutter tucking her coat up behind her knees. Her head was pounding. It was the same headache of old, but it seemed brighter here. The bodies in the warehouse were amplifying it. Like a heady perfume that sets off a migraine, the bodies carried the scent of whatever it was that was causing Em's pain. Now there were so many bodies, the pain was all the stronger.

  She sighed and pressed both her palms into the side of her head.

  Nick saw her and came to sit next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

  "You okay?" he asked.

  His voice was gentle and caring and all of a sudden Em wanted to dive into it. She didn't care any more about anything. Let Jarek take Alina back to the Family, let her father descend in all his fiery rage, let whoever was draining the city's most gorgeous young men dry drink their fill. She didn't care, so long as she had Nick's arms around her and the warmth of his chest to lean against.

  She wanted to run away with him and spend the rest of her life in bed with him. She wanted to take his hand and fly like fury through the dimensions and show him the chaos and wonder of the universe. She wanted to wake up every morning to coffee and bagels and him. She wanted the both of them to live together. Forever.

  "I'm okay," she said, slipping her arm around his waist and smiling up at him. "I'm fine."

  And then the first of the squad cars arrived.

  Things got busy after that. The entire scene, the warehouse, the alleyway, all the approaches, had to be researched, sketched, photographed, tagged and bagged. There were thirty seven bodies altogether. Robert had to assign three pathology teams to the job, never his favourite way of doing things, but they needed to get these bodies to a morgue as soon as possible. Some of them had been there for quite a while.

  When Robert arrived he saw Em and Nick working side by side as two professionals should, but when Em looked up to greet him, she saw that Robert had noticed something else as well. His eyes flicked from one to the other and he frowned slightly. Em couldn't help being impressed. She'd hidden he
r relationships with both the men from the other, and she'd always thought she'd done a good job of that. But something had just given her away. She wondered what it was.

  They worked through the rest of that night and most of the next day as well. By lunchtime the last of the bodies had left the scene and Robert looked at his watch.

  "Okay," he said, calling the teams around him. "We still have a lot to do here, but I need some of you back at the lab to start processing what's back there. You, Nick, and you, Em - you're out. Go home." He looked down at his notepad and turned to some of the others.

  "I don't need a break," said Em, interrupting him. "I'm fine. I can keep going here..."

  Robert stepped closer to her, gestured for Nick to come over and lowered his voice. Em thought he'd been annoyed at them - his tone had certainly been curt - but now she could see he was concerned for them.

  "You've both been here since midnight last night. And you pulled long shifts the day before."

  "So?" said Nick. "It's not like we haven't worked long hours before."

  Robert put a hand on his arm. "I mean it, Nick. This scene hasn't been easy on any of us today. We're all going to need a break at some point, and you two have been here the longest. We've got a long way to go on it still, and they'll be plenty to do back here tomorrow in the light." He nodded quickly as Nick began to interrupt again. "Go home and get some rest, both of you. I'll need you refreshed and on the ball tomorrow."

  "Come on, Nick," said Em, looking closely at Robert. Robert looked back at her, his face inscrutable. Em had the strangest feeling Robert was letting her know he was okay with her and Nick. Em let one of her eyebrows twitch a question at Robert, and in return Robert gave the smallest of nods. Interesting, thought Em.

  Robert turned back to the rest of the pathology team and Em took Nick by the hand and lead him out of the warehouse.

  Naturally, they were late to Nick's family barbecue.

  The event was a tentative celebration. Nick's sister Lucy's youngest son had passed some milestone in his treatment. With luck it meant fewer long-term hospital stays in the future - and that meant everyone in the family could relax a little. It also meant Nick had more time to spend with Em, he had whispered to her in the car on the way. No more taking the other kids to little league on a Saturday morning for Lucy when she was stuck in hospital.

  "So, little Jack being home from hospital means I get to spend more time in bed with you?" said Em as Nick grinned at her. "Well then, this really is a celebration, isn't it?"

  But Em found the atmosphere at the gathering a little curious. Most human parties she'd attended had been wild celebrations of life. There'd been alcohol, party drugs, laugher, loud music, the usual. Here there was an almost melancholy tone. This was a family celebrating one small life that clung on precariously. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and kids all smiled and laughed but with a certain wariness, and weariness, the adults in particular not sure if they should relax completely. Em was intrigued, and the slight tiredness about the mood suited her current state of mind completely.

  Lucy came by with a small boy in her arms and a careful smile on her face. She kissed Nick on the cheek and turned her smile to Em. Em could see she looked older than her years with an age old fear dancing close behind her eyes.

  "Nick, I'm so glad you could come," she said. "Jack was asking after his 'Nunkle Nick'. Busy day?"

  Em raised her eyebrows at Nick over Lucy's shoulder as the woman leant close to her brother to allow the kid in her arms to kiss his uncle. 'Nunkle Nick?' she mouthed with a grin.

  "I wouldn't have missed it," said Nick, taking Jack out of Lucy's arms and tossing the boy high in the air.

  Jack squealed, but Em noticed it was a subdued little squeal. She looked at the boy again. He was about three, bald as a button, with eyes older than time. Em looked deeper and saw the death lurking inside the child's blood. She realized in a second how pointless this celebration was. No, not pointless, she corrected herself, there was love here and that should always be celebrated. She sighed. She was surrounded by death today. Thirty seven pointless deaths in the warehouse, and one sweet little death still to come in front of her now. How did humans cope with this?

  “And you must be Em," Lucy was saying. "I'm so pleased to finally meet you. Nick's told me so much about you." The smile Lucy gave Em was warm and genuinely happy. Em's insides twisted as she thought of how that smile would shrivel and die when the death in Jack's blood finally won the battle. Lucy seemed like such a nice person, Em thought. She doesn't deserve this.

  Em allowed herself to be introduced to the whole family. She was a little surprised at the generous welcome she received - what had Nick been telling them all - but she was touched as well. Of course they would greet her so kindly. If this was the family that had produced Nick then of course they were good people. The comparison between this beautiful kind-hearted group of humans and the cut-throat competition of her own Family didn't even bear thinking about.

  Em watched Nick. He'd dived in to play a complicated game of tag with his nieces and nephews in the back garden, and the kids yelled and laughed around him. The smaller ones simply climbed him like a tree and at one point she noticed four children hanging off him, from his arms, from his shoulders, wrapped around his legs. He looked like a boy himself. Em could feel his happiness from where she watched inside the house with a gaggle of sisters and aunts who scoffed thick slices of desserts and sweet tea.

  “So, how long have you been going out with my goofy brother?" said a voice behind her. Lucy was there, pressing another glass of champagne into Em's hand.

  Em smiled politely. She didn't really want the champagne. Damn it, she didn't know what she wanted. She was feeling almost overwhelmed by a whole range of feelings that had her confused and anxious. She was scared, she realized. Scared of whatever had caused the mess in the warehouse, whatever was causing her headaches. She was scared that Jarek's tempting darkness might lead her home. She was scared that she'd somehow ruined whatever was between Robert and her, and she was scared that if she didn't grab Nick and hold him tight to her right now that she might lose him forever.

  She looked at Lucy, and realized most of the other women were waiting on her response. So, this was a test, she thought.

  "We've been working with each other for a few years now," she said smiling and sending out a whisper of dark energy through the window and out into the garden. She was searching for one of the children. "But I guess we started seeing each other, you know, properly, about two years ago."

  There he was. Jack. Her dark energy found him where he was sitting to one side of the group of older children and Nick still playing wildly together.

  "Though I must say I had no idea how good he was with children," she said. "Hardened crims and drug dealers, sure, but who'd have thought he'd be such a pushover with kids."

  The women laughed, and Em's dark energy flowed inside the boy, through his blood, around his heart, into every cell.

  Lucy gave Em a sly look. 'It's attractive, isn't it? A bloke who's so good with kids..."

  The other women groaned. "Oh, for heaven's sake Lucy," one of them said. "Give the girl a break. Your matchmaking pitch needs a little work!" They were all laughing again.

  Inside Jack's blood Em found what she was looking for. The blood was thin and boiling with chemicals, but there it was. One cancerous cell that had found a way to survive the drugs. One cell with the potential to start the cycle of the death all over again. Just one little cell.

  Em met Lucy's eyes and smiled. She raised her champagne glass.

  "Yes," she said, meaningfully. "Very attractive."

  She clinked her glass against Lucy's and inside Jack that one little cell turned to ash.

  Later she found Nick and leant up against him.

  "Remember how you asked me if I was okay?" she said.

  He nodded.

  "I'm not."

  Nick's face softened and his hands took her by the shoulders
and turned her around to face him.

  "The warehouse?" he asked. "Or do you still have that headache? How thoughtless of me. I can't believe I've made you suffer through my whole family when you're still feeling so bad." He shushed her as she tried to defend his family. "No, my fault, I'm sorry sweetheart." He hugged her. "How about we just get you home, ok?"

  * * *

  Nick was a good guy, Em thought, but not so good he wouldn't fall for her big eyes, a few well timed sighs and her fluttering lashes. She didn't even have tug at his hand all that hard when she dragged him over her doorstep and into her bedroom.

  Her dress was off before either of them knew it, and soon Nick was in nothing but his socks too. He kissed her hungrily, she pulled him down onto the bed and they wrapped themselves around each other.

  Em was close to tears. Everything that had been going on recently had upset her more than she liked to admit. She wasn't used to feeling so out of control and she certainly hadn't liked Jarek turning up to remind of her the contrasts between this life and her old one. A beautiful afternoon watching Nick play with his family had just about topped it off. She was a wreck. She felt a little guilty using Nick for sex just to cheer herself up, but...

  That thought made her feel even sadder. As their bodies writhed around each other Em discovered she'd opened up her heart and was leaving little whispers of dark energy all over the place. Small clouds of energy clung to their skin, to the sheets. Em pulled Nick into her and held on to him fiercely.

  "Em, babe," Nick whispered. "I've never felt this close to you before."

  And finally, there it was. Laid bare willingly in front of her. Nick's soul.

  Em was astonished. Nick's soul was beautiful. In all her nine hundred years, she thought, she'd never seen a soul so beautiful. Then she realized why. All the souls she'd drained up til now had been taken forcibly from their owners, ripped apart in Em's hunger. She ate their fear, their despair and their horror. The only flavours she'd ever known.