by R. E. Carr
“You were dead-on about the contact poisoning. I’m guessing that Arthur has the same glands, based on accounts from Italy. The miasma works to some extent through inhalation, especially on weaker targets, but he needs to touch someone’s bare skin to deliver a full dose,” Reiko said, pointedly not looking at Steve unless necessary. “At least this gives us a way to limit Arthur’s control. However, this protein lingers, and it is quite insidious. Once it’s in your system, it makes you progressively more sensitive to its effects.”
“And I’m dosed,” Gail said, glaring at Steve.
“I’m sorry,” he said, tugging at the latex gloves now on his hands. Rikuto Nakano peered at him closely.
“You even got the slightly larger pore on his left cheek right,” Rikuto noted in awe. “How much time did you spend with my brother?”
“I saw his face more than my own,” Steve muttered. “Please, docs, Gail. . . can you tell me how I did this and how I can change back?”
“It’s the same trick your mom pulled,” Toy added from the peanut gallery. “I guess it’s like mother, like son.”
“It wasn’t her blood she gave me, though. I remember it from when I was turned. This was my father’s and Ren’s. I remember that blood all too well. Why did she give me Ren’s blood?”
“You mean Arthur’s,” Rikuto corrected.
“No, it was Ren’s. No offence, but I’ve drunk your brother’s blood for the better part of a decade. It was all him. I have no idea where she got the sample—”
“The Biogenesys Lab in Austin had samples labelled R. Matsuoka,” Gail added. “She saved a lot.”
“She saved my father’s blood too, but it was fresh. She must have seen him recently,” Steve mumbled. “It’s . . . disconcerting, since it’s been so long. Almost a century . . . yuck.”
“While you were unconscious, you spoke in Japanese,” Gail said, taking a moment to grab a syringe. “Tas-kay-tay-something. You sounded like you were in pain.”
“Tasukete kudasai?” Steve asked.
“I think so.”
“It means please help,” Reiko Nakano said, gritting her teeth. “I’m sure you heard my son say that many times when he was in the clutches of your adoptive sister and her infernal mother. Unless, of course, you made him cry out too. Now, do you have any idea how you can stop taunting me by wearing the face of my son, or do I need to just leave the room?”
“If I had any idea how, I’d be back to my regular ugly mug already. Please, you have to believe me, I have no idea how this happened. Please!”
“Get a fresh sample, Gail, and meet me in the lab. LaToya, would you mind keeping an eye on him?”
“Oh, I don’t mind looking at him, but I can totally get why this is awkward for you guys. If he tries anything funny . . .” She punctuated her statement by pulling her tranquilizer pistol out of the holster at her hip.
“Just don’t let him touch you, Toy,” Rikuto added. Toy snapped her fingers in disappointment.
Gail eyed the gloves on Steve’s hands as she started taking the blood out of his arm. He grabbed her, prompting Toy to level her weapon at him. “Easy, tiger,” Toy growled.
“He’s gloved. I’m fine,” Gail said, even though her voice broke a little. She wiggled the needle just a bit to make sure he really felt it in his arm. “Just behave for five minutes, OK?”
“Please, Gail, don’t leave me in here with the furballs,” he begged. The effect didn’t quite work with his new face. “Damn it, I’m terrified.”
“Good—now you know how the rest of us feel,” Gail snapped as she yanked the syringe out and jerked free of his grasp. For once, Gail let out a sigh of relief as she saw Sam, Bernard, and Williams all staggered throughout the clinic, keeping a wary eye on the stranger lying in bed number one. Williams gulped and blocked Gail’s way.
“I am so sorry we messed up your stuff and got you stuck out there with Skrull Steve. Are you OK? I mean, he didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“I’m fine. He lunged at me once, and I hit him with my sledgehammer, so it’s all good,” she said as she tried to find an exit route around the big guy. Williams moved a bit to keep her firmly in his sights. He placed one of his mammoth hands on her shoulder.
“I just worry, you know. I mean, he’s a guy, and he has that total Purple Man voice that can make you do anything, right? I was just afraid he’d try to . . . you know . . . with you.”
“I have to get these samples to the lab, but thanks for the concern. I’m fine, really. Just don’t let Steve touch you with his bare hands, and you should be able to resist—”
“Is it true that he just turned into the bad guy right before your eyes?” Williams asked.
“How do we even know that he’s not really that Arthur guy, sent here to infiltrate our operations as Steve?” Bernard asked.
“Why would he care?” Gail asked flatly. “Trust me, the whining in the other room could only be Steven J. DeMarco. Stop being so paranoid.”
“One can never be too paranoid in this world,” Bernard warned as he took a seat by the door and started fiddling with what looked like the innards of a thermostat. Gail did her best to smile at the lot as she slipped into the hall. Sam stopped her, however, when she was halfway towards the lab.
“Just tell me—did he use his voice on you, or were you lonely?” Sam asked, gruffly, but his dark eyes showed more concern than anger for once. “Look, I gotta know what kind of monster we’re dealing with.”
“A scared one. Look, it was only a kiss, but if Williams found out—”
“Thank you for answering my question. I won’t trouble you anymore.”
“You had to tell the truth, Gail,” she muttered to herself. She turned once to see the beast of a werewolf flick his claws a few times before he slipped out of view. “I just hope we don’t re-enact Underworld before the night is over.”
Gail returned with the sample and blinked a few times as she saw Reiko Nakano chugging from a flask. Rikuto looked rather shaken as well, but he managed to smile as Gail prepped and emptied the vial. “It’s a bit disturbing, isn’t it?” Gail asked, trying to stay focused on her job.
“It pisses me off,” The elder Dr. Nakano snapped, slamming her flask onto the lab table. “He has no right to look like Ren, not after everything he’s done. The only reason I’m not slipping tetracycline into him is that I’m pretty damn sure he’s as miserable as we are.”
“He drank his father’s blood but got his mother’s power. That doesn’t make sense,” Gail said. “Unless—”
“Unless what?” Reiko asked. “We know that Steve synthesizes copycat miasma that allows his system to learn other abilities. He got the ability to make others forget from the sheriff, and the whammy voice from Arthur, but until now, he’s never replicated a physical ability, as far as we’ve seen.”
“You’re right, he drank my blood and got nothing—no acid spit, as far as I know.”
“Ooh, you spat the acid that was in those petri dishes? That’s kinda awesome,” Rikuto said. “Haha, we should probably check to see if he is going to spit acid. I don’t want to go out like the idiot scientists in an Alien movie.”
“Then you check that out. I’m diving into this bloodwork,” his mother replied. “Make sure to wear eye protection.”
“Dr. Nakano,” Gail said softly. “I can’t imagine—”
“This is why I drink. I suppose that is one thing Mr. DeMarco and I have in common. Lord, I have no idea how a creature could rearrange its outward appearance so quickly. It’s not like vampires are sitting in cephalopods, human bodies just don’t work that way. I need to figure this out. Hell, if we figure out how to revert Steve back to his original form, we may be able to find a way to flush the sheriff out of hiding.”
Gail looked at the numbers again. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. The notification alerted her that a new article was flagged for her from the archive. “Kayleigh’s program is back in action,” she whispered. “Another article on the Beast of a T
housand Names. Why?”
“I thought I had this figured out,” Dr. Nakano sighed as she looked over her notes.
“I read all about this Beast of a Thousand Names while Steve slept. He was a vampire that all others were afraid of because they thought he could drink their blood and steal their souls. Steve’s dad was known as the Beast before he was Klaus, right? The sheriff really wanted to know if Steve was his father’s son. Maybe somewhere in the archives we will find more info.”
“Yeah, you’ll find information from a time when people thought demons caused the plague. I think I’ll stick to my science for now.”
“There did seem to be a limit on the Beast’s powers. It was said he could only contain one soul at a time, and after a while, he would have fits of madness. After the madness, he would return to his calm self.”
“Well, so far Steve can make people forget, command others, and now shift shape. Am I correct?” Dr. Nakano asked.
“We haven’t verified that all of them still work. We know he could command and make people forget at the same time. Should we make him test it?” Gail asked, staring at the screen.
“You want to test it? I think we should sedate him and do more research. I mean, come on, if he starts figuring out more powers, who is going to be able to stop him?”
“Superman?” Rikuto offered. “Then again, maybe he’ll be able to belch kryptonite by Sunday.”
The door burst open, and Lorcan and Paige rushed into the room. Gail braced herself for the next flurry of questions. “Toy said you had news,” Paige said, barely out of breath.
“I just got here,” Gail replied flatly. “All we’ve found out is that Steve has figured out a new trick from his parents’ playbook.”
“Damn it!” Lorcan snapped. “I just heard the back door.”
Gail and Lorcan led the charge down the hall. The lights flickered ominously as Gail made it to the parking lot. Sparks danced from her fingers. A moment later a car peeled out of a spot and nearly crashed into a pole.
“Seriously?” Lorcan asked. “He got past four werewolves when we knew what he could do?”
“He got past three. I’m pretty sure he had help,” Gail said as she saw a pair of boots peeking behind the dumpster. She darted over to see Toy bound and gagged with zip ties and a horse bit.
“Damn it, Paige was right,” Lorcan snarled. “Mother! Come out and face me!”
The door burst open and two pairs of luminous, feral eyes shone in the night. Gail ducked as a snarling Sam streaked past her. Her terror only heightened as a creature that looked far more like a bear than a wolf lumbered into view. The mighty creature crouched next to her. “Are you OK?” Williams croaked out.
“We’re fine. Let’s not cause a scene,” Lorcan said. Sam continued to advance. “Hey, I said stand down. We can’t outrun a car, so let’s figure out where the hell they are going.”
Gail’s fingers sparked again. She clutched her sides and felt a wave of dizziness. Lorcan turned to help her. For a moment, she saw a familiar look of concern in his eyes. “Jonathan?” she asked weakly.
Lorcan shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I cannot let him out right now. Tell me, child, are you alright?”
“Just dizzy. I think I need to eat,” she said as she stumbled through the confusion. The werewolves growled and argued among themselves, while Gail slipped into the exam room to grab the blood she had dropped on the floor earlier. Bernard slept peacefully on the exam bed, the tranquilizer pistol in his hands and a dart in his neck.
Once she had swallowed half a bag, and the chaos had died down, she peeked into the lab to hear Sam explain the situation. “The little bitch shot me,” Gail overheard as she picked her phone up off the floor to see another update from the Arce, followed by an event reminder for a crafts fair in Centennial Park on Saturday. She decided to head back to the breakroom while the werewolves continued to argue.
Gail scanned the article on her phone, a translated poem on how the Cesare were gods among men, often confused for the legends of old. “Imhotep fashioned himself in the image of Zeus, and his children walked the path of titans,” she read. “This is so not helpful.”
She scanned a little more. “Great artists fashioned monuments and paid tribute, carving statues of their gods’ likenesses. To this day, it is whispered that the gods still walk those halls.”
The lights flickered again. Gail closed her eyes and took a deep breath. For the briefest of moments, she felt cool breath on her cheek.
“Remember, mi amor.”
Gail gasped, and her eyes snapped open. She stared in wonder at the energy crackling from fingertip to fingertip. Unfortunately, her phone now sat lifeless on the table. She looked up at the bulletin board in the breakroom and saw a flyer for “Arts in the Park”. She also saw a large, distinctive structure in the background of all the booths.
“Is there something in the Parthenon?” she asked, cocking her head. The lights flickered again. “Javier . . . are you . . . here?”
Her phone rebooted, prompting a sigh of relief. A new article alert flashed on the lock screen, “Origins of Vampire Society”.
“Remember,” Gail mouthed as she settled down to read. “Oh, this is going to be a long week.”
Paige grimaced as she hid in the bathroom, her head pounding, and claws curling over the countertop. She struggled to keep her breathing even. Her shoulders shuddered. “Please no, not now,” she begged. Paige grabbed a bunch of paper towels and soap and tried her best to wipe the countertops in smooth, even circles. The bathroom door swung open, and a concerned looking Dr. Nakano peered at Paige.
“You ran off rather quickly. Are you alright?” she asked. “Should I get Kyle?”
“Just give me a sec.” Paige waved weakly. A cramp wracked her stomach and she nearly dropped to her knees. Dr. Nakano rushed to her side. The hairs started to thicken on Paige’s arm. “Oh no, not now!”
“You’re right, not now,” Dr. Nakano said as she poked Paige in the neck. Paige saw the doctor flicker ever so slightly in and out of view as the world started to spin. “Don’t worry, little bitch, I’m taking you to the safest place possible until my grandchild is born.”
“Lorcan,” she managed to choke out, before everything went black.
10
“Have you seen Paige?”
Gail looked up from her phone, blinking a few times. She saw Jonathan’s face, but the faint Irish lilt in his voice gave away the real speaker. She shook her head. Lorcan snarled and punched his fist into the doorjamb. Both vampires stared in surprise at the dent he left.
“Don’t forget, Jonathan’s body was pretty tough even as a human,” Gail warned. “You might regret punching things.”
Lorcan’s face softened a little. “Look, if you see her, can you let me know? Also, you will probably learn this soon enough, but Mina is on her way to Nashville with a rather sizable contingent of your adoptive family.”
“They don’t tell me much, I’m afraid.”
“Are you . . . alright? Nadia said that you and Steve had an altercation of some kind—”
“I’m fine. Just knee-deep in research,” she replied quickly, going back to her screen. The lights flickered again. Lorcan stared into the dark recesses of the room and shivered. The two of them locked gazes for a moment.
“Ever feel like you’ve seen a ghost?” he asked. Before Gail could reply, Kyle showed up to the party.
“Hey, Paige is with her mom. She says she was feeling overwhelmed and quote unquote ‘did not want to deal with anyone confusing until she had cleaned the whole house’,” Kyle said.
Lorcan nodded but eyed the corner of the room. “Kyle, who wouldn’t be confusing? I don’t like the thought of her being alone, while my mother is out and about. Not to mention her great-grandfather and his current condition.”
“Toy and the Black brothers. We’ve stuck poor Toy with enough toothpicks to know she’s not a vamp in disguise,” Kyle replied quickly. Lorcan nodded and dismissed the gia
nt redhead with a wave.
“Lorcan,” Gail started softly. “I think there is a ghost.”
“Well, I hope it is a friendly one. If you see Mina first, tell her I’m waiting for a lot of answers.”
“Will do,” Gail replied as she was once more left in the empty breakroom. She stared at the picture of the Parthenon and the park, letting out a deep sigh as she tried to make sense of everything her mysterious guide kept feeding her from the Arce Monstrorum archives. As if on cue, a text message popped up from “Not Sparkling Edwin,” stating that a Harker entourage was coming to Nashville by the weekend.
“Come on, Javier, if you are out there, stop playing games, and just tell me what I need to know,” she begged looking around the empty room. The lights flickered again as if taunting her. Gail hissed and quickly regretted it as she saw a spray on the tabletop. She wiped it up quickly and thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t dissolve anything on accident.
“What am I supposed to remember?” she asked as she reached the sink. As she stared at the little puddles of water in the basin, a familiar face drifted into view. “Javier,” she choked out.
She whirled around, but no vampire waited to greet her. Instead her phone had magically loaded up with a Skype notification. She gulped as she tapped to receive the call.
“Sorpresa, mi princesa!” the ghostly image of Javier said as he flickered on her screen.
“You asshole, you’re alive! Wait, how can I see you?”
“A better question would be, how can I see you, no?”
Gail looked at the blurry splotch in the corner of the screen. She shook her head, but nothing changed her display to be anything more than the vampire haze. “This is impossible,” she whispered.
“We are all impossible, mi princesa, and I am afraid I am still very much gone from the land of the living. I am nothing more than the ghost in your máquina.”
“No . . . you can’t be. How can I talk to you if . . . if . . .?”
