by Rain, J. R.
“What, exactly, is an Elemental?” asked Elena in her slightly husky voice.
“I’m glad you asked,” I said, and turned back to Bonnie. I flashed her my best smile. “Yes, Bonnie, what exactly is an Elemental?”
She looked from me to Elena. Had it been just me asking the question, she probably would have said something rude and hurtful. Instead, she said, “Elementals are nature spirits, beings that tend to Nature, at least as far as witches are concerned.”
“So, what are the Four Elements, then?” asked Elena.
“Earth, wind, fire, and water,” said Stefan. “At least, traditionally.”
“Someone’s been reading Wikipedia,” I said to my brother and then turned and faced Bonnie. “What do you know of the Four Elements?”
“As much as you do, Damon.”
“It was in your ancestors’ grimoire.”
“There’s lots of information in my ancestors’ grimoire that I don’t understand.”
“Can’t you ask them? I mean, aren’t you always talking to your dead ancestors?”
“Maybe I could, but I doubt it.”
“Because you’re friends with vampires,” I said, and rolled my eyes.
“That, and because I’ve upset the balance of Nature. Witches are here to restore Nature, Damon.”
“Yadda yadda, I’ve heard this all before.”
“Then hear this. I’m not sure what is going on with the Four Elements, but one thing is certain: Nature seeks order and balance. Vampires tilt the balance.”
“Is that supposed to scare us?”
Bonnie looked at me with her pale eyes, and for the first time in a long time, a shudder rippled through me. “I would tread very carefully here, boys.” And with that, Bonnie grabbed her purse and left.
“She said ‘tread,’” I said when she was gone. “Lame.”
“She’s right, you know,” said Stefan.
“Don’t tell me you buy into all that ‘balancing Nature’ crap, too?”
“Maybe,” said Stefan.
“Or maybe you want to find the Four Elements first,” I said.
His answer? Stefan only smirked.
The bastard.
D. Salvatore
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
* * *
The next day, I was back in my office.
Never had being in my office felt so good. I knew this office. I knew my job, too. This was normal; this was real. I liked normal and real.
This other stuff was … too crazy. I was still halfway certain I had dreamed the last two days. In fact, I’d been hesitant to test my newfound skills. For now, believing the past few days were a dream was exactly what I needed. What my brain needed. A rational explanation that made sense of it all.
So, back to work, I was pleased when Gracie Lockwood appeared in my office, wanting an update on the case. She caught me making my morning coffee at the little bar sink in the corner of my office. While I waited for it to brew, I headed back to my desk and sat across from her.
Gracie Lockwood was looking … quite beautiful. If I hadn’t noticed it before, I sure did today. If possible, her second impression was even more stunning. Quite frankly, I had been in a dating slump. More precisely, I hadn’t wanted to date. I still didn’t, not really. I enjoyed being alone. I enjoyed my quiet moments. In the past, my relationships had proven to be more troublesome than they were worth. Truth was, I was pretty certain that I’d never been in full-blown love, even though I had said the words on occasion. That was okay. I loved my quiet life, instead. My simple life. I loved my books and TV shows, and my long walks. I even loved my job. Stakeouts were a great way to relax and quiet the mind.
Or maybe I was just kidding myself.
Maybe I really did want a relationship. Maybe I just hadn’t found “The One,” as Tom was always telling me.
Looking at Gracie Lockwood now, I was surprised to discover that my heart was beating a little faster than normal. Geez, what had come over me? I hadn’t felt quite this way the first time I met her. Sure, I had admired her beauty like the boss I am … but what was the deal with my pounding heart and sudden shortness of breath?
I hadn’t a clue, but something powerful had come over me. She was literally taking my breath away with her knee-ripped black jeans and faded, tight black t-shirt with Victoria’s Secret spelled out in rhinestones across the chest. No bra. And no makeup. Not even nail polish. A light sweater was loosely knotted around her neck by the sleeves in that careless fashion embraced by the upper crust. Her hair was up in a casual ponytail, a messy one, even. She was not dolled up one bit and here she was, absolutely slaying me with her beauty.
If I was being honest with myself, I had a goofy, school-boy crush on Gracie Lockwood.
Lord help me, but the word smitten rolled over in my mind.
I asked how she was holding up, slightly surprised that I stumbled a little over my words. School-boy crush indeed. She said she was holding up and wanted to know if I had learned anything about her sister’s death.
I was just contemplating how, exactly, to answer her question when the coffee maker quit percolating, thus buying me a little time. I remembered how she liked her coffee the last time and, without asking her if she wanted a cup, made her one and brought it over.
“Two sugars and cream,” I said.
“You remembered,” she said, surprised.
“Here at Long Investigations, customer service is our top priority.”
She smiled at that and sipped her coffee. She seemed to enjoy the brew. I enjoyed that she seemed to enjoy it.
Settle down, partner, I thought.
“About your sister,” I said, still not sure of the direction I should take.
“You’ve discovered something,” she said, setting down her coffee and sitting forward.
Of course, by admitting what I had discovered—that her sister had likely been killed by a vampire—I would also be admitting that the events of the past few days were not part of one long weird dream. I wasn’t ready to admit that yet. Not to her. I needed to believe that my life was still normal. That I was still normal. But how could I look this woman in the face and lie to her?
I considered my options, then passed the buck when I said, “I believe the sheriff knows more than what she is telling me.”
“And what is she telling you?”
“They’re sticking with the animal attack story.”
“It was no animal, Mr. Long.”
“I believe you,” I said.
“It was a man; I’m sure of it. She was being followed. Stalked. Hunted.”
A chill swept through me. Had my experience with Michael not been a dream, I was beginning to suspect what had been stalking her sister and her sister’s boyfriend.
Perhaps it was time, once and for all, to prove that the events of the past few days weren’t a dream. I enjoyed being normal. I enjoyed my life and my job. I most certainly didn’t want to believe that the Archangel Michael had spent an evening with me teaching me how to embrace my true destiny as an Elemental.
So weird, I thought. My life has become absolutely surreal.
And, as Gracie sat across from me, waiting expectantly and with tears in her eyes, I raised my open palm slightly and summoned a small wind.
There was only a brief pause, and then it appeared, ruffling her hair and the papers along my desk. It was small enough not to cause any alarm, although Gracie did shiver and pull her light sweater tighter around her shoulders.
It’s official, I thought, sighing. I’m a freak.
“Do you believe in vampires, Miss Lockwood?” I asked.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
* * *
She blinked.
Since I’d never posed the vampire question to anyone, I wasn’t sure what reaction I expected. The one she gave me would have been far down on the list.
Instead of laughing it off, or demanding that I return her money for wasting it and her time, she simply sat back, folded her hands over her exposed
knees, and said, “Why do you ask, Mr. Long?”
To say her question and demeanor caught me off guard would be an understatement. I opened my mouth to speak, only to discover that I hadn’t a clue as to what to reply. When I had recovered sufficiently, I said, “You don’t seem surprised that I asked that question.”
She shrugged, although the rest of her remained perfectly still. “The rumors of vampires are nothing new, Mr. Long.”
“Perhaps,” I said, knowing she was right, of course. “But your reaction is new. At least, for me.”
“Whatever do you mean?” she asked.
“You took my question in stride,” I said. “Almost as if you had expected it.”
“Or perhaps I’m still too stunned to give you a proper response.”
I shrugged. “Well, are you?”
She leaned forward suddenly. “Let’s cut the crap, Mr. Detective. What do you know?”
“The town has a vampire problem, or so I’m told.”
“Told by whom?”
By the Archangel Michael, I could have said, but didn’t. Instead, I said, “My sources. You don’t seem surprised.”
“Maybe because I’m not, detective.”
“If you knew it was a vampire who killed your sister and her boyfriend, then why did you hire me?”
“Because I didn’t know. Truth be known, I don’t know much about vampires.”
“But you know enough not to laugh off my question.”
She took in a lot of air. Some of my puppy love was gone, but as she took in air and her lungs swelled and her chest lifted, I might have swallowed. Hard. And I might have wet my lips a little. Might have. Finally, she said, “I am aware that the town has a bit of a vampire problem. Or, rather, that it had a bit of a vampire problem. The recent animal attacks seem to confirm that the vampires are back, but I wouldn’t know for sure. I’m not exactly in the loop anymore.”
“Anymore?”
“I’ve said far too much, Mr. Long.”
“On the contrary, you haven’t said enough. Your sister and her boyfriend, unless I’m wrong, were killed by a vampire. At least, that’s what the evidence suggests.”
“What kind of evidence?”
I told her about the tree branch and the fact that it was covered in blood and far too high for any cougar to carry its prey.
“What are you suggesting, Mr. Long? That a vampire carried my sister up the branch and fed on her up there?”
“I’m not sure what I’m suggesting,” I said, “but it’s damn strange evidence.”
“How did you come across this tree branch, if I might ask?”
“The tree branch had broken free.” I looked away. “Probably a windstorm.”
“And you happened to arrive to witness this branch falling free?”
“I did. At my feet.”
“How fortuitous.”
“My best guess is that the branch had been compromised by the combined weight.”
“Is that your very best guess, Mr. Long?”
I swallowed at her penetrating look. Geez, did she know about me? I recovered and said, “Yes, of course. What are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting nothing, Mr. Long. All I know is that my sister is dead, and the man I hired to find her just stumbled upon some very lucky evidence.”
I raised my hands. “Sometimes an investigator gets lucky.”
“Fine. If it was a vampire, then where does that get us?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But you still have some explaining to do. How do you know about the vampires here in Mystic Falls?”
Gracie gave me another penetrating look, one that reminded me a little of the one Michael had given me last night, the one that seemed to read my soul like a book. Then Gracie nodded, collected her belongings, and stood. “Thank you for the coffee, Mr. Long. I’ll be back in a few days for another update.”
She moved over to the door and paused. “Please be careful out there, detective.” I caught real concern in her voice, and then she gave me a sad smile and left.
Dear Bloody Diary,
Today is a new day. By my guesstimate, I’ve had over 50,000 such new days. God, I’ve been alive a long time. Sometimes I think too long. Sometimes I think maybe it’s better to end this madness. And it is madness. One long surreal mind-trip.
Except, I can’t quite pull the plug. After all, I love me too much to see any harm come to me. Which is why searching for the Elemental is both a suicide mission and perhaps the greatest thing I can do to ensure my survival. To never be killed. To be stronger than the others of my kind. Hell, of any kind. No, I do not seek power. I’ve never wanted too much power. No, I seek eternal peace… .
Stefan seems to be on board, as well.
Granted, I wasn’t sure how I felt about his being on board, but he made a compelling case this morning. Over coffee and a packet of hospital hemoglobin, Stefan pointed out that we were brothers first and that we always had each other’s backs, that, despite our differences we were always there for each other.
I told him to quit being gay and to get on with it.
“We’ll find the Elemental together,” he said.
“And why should we do that?”
“So we can have each other’s backs for all of eternity.”
“You mean I will be stuck with you until the end of time?”
“No one better, Damon.”
“What about Elena?”
“We can talk about her later,” said Stefan. “First, we need to find the Elemental.”
I considered his offer. Despite being a royal pain in the ass, Stefan and I were there for each other. Truth was there was no one I trusted more in this world. And, who wanted to spend all of eternity alone? The idea of bringing Elena along with us as well was an intriguing one. The three of us … we’d be invincible.
Interesting, interesting.
So, as Stefan waited for my answer, I gave him one of my shit-eating grins and said, “I’ve already found him.”
“The guy in the bar?” asked Stefan.
I pointed my finger at little brother. “Bingo.”
D. Salvatore
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
* * *
Last night, as the Archangel Michael and I walked back into town, while my head was spinning and my world was collapsing around me, I asked him who the vampires were in town.
“I could give you a list, Max, but you will know immediately.”
“How?”
“Mother Nature takes care of her own,” was all he said, and as we turned the final corner back to A Latte Coffee and back to my car, Michael disappeared.
Poof. Just like that, a person who had been standing with me—who had been conversing with me—was gone.
“But he’s not a person, is he?” I asked, as I sat back in my office chair, sipping on my morning coffee. I crossed my feet at the corner of the desk—a classic detective pose. “No,” I said to myself, “not a person at all.”
How I would just know when I came across a vampire was troubling at best. Was Gracie a vampire? After all, she had certainly known about them. I would suggest that she couldn’t be a vampire since I had seen her in the light of day, but Michael had corrected that notion. Some vampires, through dark magic, could very much exist in the light of day.
Well, Gracie didn’t feel like a vampire. Nothing suggested to me that she was.
Or perhaps I had refused to believe it. She was something special, though. That I knew as truth.
Just as I almost let myself go into a Gracie fantasy, a knock sounded at my office door.
I’ll admit it. I jumped. Nearly spilling my coffee all over myself.
Who wouldn’t with all of this vampire talk? I swung my feet off my desk, set the coffee cup down, considered going for my gun, until I realized that was a little extreme, and headed over to my office door.
But as I did so, I was struck with the scent of … decay.
I paused, curious, sniffing the air. I’d once come ac
ross a dead body in the back of a Buick while working a case. It had been bound and gagged … and rotting. Not pleasant, trust me. I’d had nightmares for weeks. Anyway, I would never forget the smell. There was also a pungent sweetness to it that was memorable. The two smells, when combined, were revolting.
I got a hint of that now. Not quite as strong, certainly.
But a hint of decay. A hint of death.
Maybe a rat had died behind the walls. Or a possum had died in the basement below my office. I’d look into it later. At the office door—which always self-locks when shut—I looked out through the peephole at the same two men I had seen the other night. The handsome, dark-haired guy who had come knocking at my office door in the evening. And the taller, long-faced guy with the Hollywood hair. Both stood there, both equally handsome, both equally frightening.
More interesting, the scent of decay was stronger here.
“They’re dead,” Michael had said. “Always remember that. You are dealing with the walking dead.”
I swallowed and considered not opening the door. In fact, I was just about to back up slowly when the taller one said, “We can see you looking at us. You’re not fooling anyone.”
“Besides, I can hear you breathing. What are you doing in there, getting in shape with Pilates?”
Both were standing there in the morning sunshine. Except now I knew that some vampires could bypass this small technicality.
Were these two vampires? I didn’t know for sure, but there was certainly one way to find out.
I opened the door.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
* * *
“Can I help you, gentlemen?”
“We’re looking for a private dick,” said the dark-haired guy. He emphasized the word dick.
The taller guy said, “Are you Max Long?”
My heartbeat, I noted, had begun to race. At any other time, in any other place, two guys who smelled like death warmed over showing up at my door might have caused minor alarm. After all, private eyes did deal with the seedier elements of humanity. But my sudden anxiety was surely due to Michael’s vampire stories. And my conversation with Gracie certainly didn’t help. Hell, she’d all but confirmed that there were vampires in Mystic Falls. There was no way I was ever going to prop open my office door again, even if the air conditioner broke.
