Quick Study

by Katherine Kim

  Darien emptied the bottle of water, using what Caroline now realized was his good hand. He was frowning at the floor again.

  “I wonder what my parents are doing. I should probably have been home hours ago by now.”

  “How old are you, if I may ask?”

  “Seventeen. They don’t know I was there at all, at the museum. I…” Caroline shifted, her guilty conscience driving tears to prickle in her eyes. Now that she was feeling them, she was pretty impressed that she hadn’t cried sooner. I mean if there was ever an appropriate moment to break down in tears, it was when you wake up kidnapped by crazy, violent thieves.

  “Hey, it’ll be okay. Somehow.” Darien bumped her shoulder with his own. “I’ll think of something.”

  “How did you know that there was someone coming?” she swallowed her tears down, trying to will them away. Crying never helped and she hated that it seemed so out of her control.

  “I heard them,” Darien said.

  “Like my breathing.” Caroline glanced at him, and he nodded. “There is no rational reason that you could have heard anyone walking down that hallway. Those guys all move like freaking cats, and that door is about four inches thick. I looked when they opened it.” She watched him and saw his expression harden, like it was freezing in place the way parents always threatened.

  “I, uh…” he said. Caroline felt like she’d caught the edge of something. Like there was a piece of clear tape on a window, and now that she’d found the edge of it she felt compelled to pick at it.

  “And how did you even manage to stand up like that, anyway? If you’re so badly hurt— and I believe you, for some weird reason. I mean about the internal injuries and the concussion and stuff. If you’re that beat up you shouldn’t be able to stand up and look almost bored about it. You should be curled up and unconscious or something.”

  “Um…” Darien started to look uncomfortable. Which as she had just said, he should have looked this whole time. Uncomfortable at the very least.

  “And you said something earlier about your boss not liking your ‘kind.’ What did you mean? You never answered me.” Caroline turned to face him fully and realized that he looked almost embarrassed.

  “Boy you’re tough. And you’re just in high school? Sure you’re not an undercover cop or something?” He hunched over a bit and groaned before sitting up again.

  “I’m about to graduate,” Caroline huffed. “Assuming those creeps don’t murder me or sell me off or something. What’s going on here? Why would they want to rob the town museum? I mean it doesn’t even have anything interesting to us and we live here.”

  “Remember when I said it might be for the best if you didn’t know?” Darien asked, glancing at her. Caroline nodded. “Well, I think that with as many questions as you have, and how much you’ve noticed already, that ship has sailed.” He sighed and looked sad for a moment.

  “Those guys are actual elves, and they seem to be after some sort of artifact that was broken up into bits. I have no idea what it is or why they want it, but those guys specifically are from a small group of elf supremacists, and they’re not averse to violence, so whatever it is they have planned can’t be good.”

  3

  “Elves.” Caroline said. Darien nodded.

  “Yeah. I know how that sounds. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to tell you,” he grimaced. “I’m part of a special response team that handles criminals of what you would call the paranormal variety. It’s not usually something folks need to worry about. Paranormals are just like anyone else: most folks just want to live their lives and not be bothered, but some are like these guys and end up being a threat to the community. Then there are folks like me who police the whole mess and keep the second group from bothering the first group, or anyone else for that matter. Well. We try anyway.”

  “That sounds like you’re skipping over an awful lot. You don’t really sound like you’re lying though,” Caroline said. “Even if what you’re saying is completely nuts.”

  Darien peered at her. The one light bulb in the ceiling was dim, maybe only 60 watts she thought idly, and there was only one for the whole room. Most of the light that had brightened their cell had been coming from the small window but now there were shadows across it and the room was feeling more and more like the hole in the ground that it was.

  “Can you detect lies, somehow?” He asked. She could hear nerves in the question, but mostly honest curiosity.

  “Not really,” she said. “Not if someone’s really good at it. But I can tell when someone’s nervous and hoping that nobody notices. That usually makes me pay more attention to what they’re saying, which usually makes it obvious if they’re straight up lying or dodging the truth. It’s more like… man, I’m not even sure how to explain it. I can sort of hear intentions, I guess? Or maybe emotion? I know it’s not normal, though, because nobody else can seem to hear the same things that I do. Everyone used to look at me funny and call me crazy and stuff before I stopped talking about it. I’m not totally convinced about this paranormal thing, but I think I can trust you. You believe what you’re saying anyway.”

  “That’s one hell of a gift, Caroline.” Darien stared down at her where she sat beside him on the floor of their little cell.

  “I guess. Mostly it just makes me weird,” she shrugged. “I never really know how to act around people so that doesn’t help much either, then I end up with all this extra knowledge about them that I guess I’m not supposed to have. Also, you’re not answering my questions.”

  “You’re right,” Darien smiled. “So what do you want to know next? I’ve lost track.”

  “Well, how about you keep going with this one. If those guys are elves— and I’m not exactly convinced that they are, just that you think they are— then what are you?”

  “Not pulling your punches, huh? I guess that’s fair. And for what it’s worth you’re handling this really, really well. Finding out that there’s a whole world you thought was made up, isn’t made up at all can really mess some people up.”

  “Thank you. Next you’ll say that I’m very mature for my age, and I’m so smart I could be anything I want. You’re still dodging.” Caroline said. Darien laughed, then winced again.

  “Freaking ribs. Ow. You’re right on all points. I’m from one of the night races. There are a lot of different names for us. Lot of folks lump us all together,call us demons, and make no more distinction than that, but that’s not really fair. I mean Russian wolfhounds and chihuahuas are both dogs, but aside from that they’re totally different.”

  “Okay, so I take it that you’re not a chihuahua,” she agreed. He laughed again, and it turned into a groan.

  “Stop making me laugh, it hurts. No, I’d be more like some kind of pit bull, I guess. Sweet dog, really, with a bad reputation thanks to a few violent individuals and a bunch of bad press. Most people settle for calling us vampires.”

  “You’re a vampire,” Caroline said. He really believed it, too.

  “Yep. Doesn’t exactly work like in the movies though. And I don’t think our friends out there know exactly what I am or they probably wouldn’t have put us together in here, for fear of giving me an advantage of some kind— though like I said there’s a ton of misinformation out there. They do know I’m an agent for the Federal Paranormal Activities Agency , and that I’m tougher than they are, but not anything specific beyond that, I hope. There are a few of us that pass easily enough for human that it can be hard to tell at first glance. Don’t worry, though. I’m a danger to you at all. I’m a cop, after all,” he sighed. “Unfortunately my chief has bought into the pit-bull story of vampires, so I’m not really sure that rescue is imminent.”

  Caroline blinked at him for a few minutes. She wasn’t even sure what to say now. It was so totally nuts that her head swam with it, but he really believed what he was saying. And it was true that their captors were afraid of him. Those guns hadn’t been toys, for sure.

  “A vampire,” she
said again. Darien looked back at her and nodded.

  “Yep. Strong, fast, and fairly durable. Not much affected by sunlight or garlic. No magic of my own, hampered slightly by special dietary needs, and stopped cold by an array of specifically anti-vampire spells developed over the centuries. If I could get some real food instead of the leftovers they brought down I could heal up quick and get us out of here, but I don’t know what my next step should be considering I’m going to be basically dying of starvation in a day or two anyway. Under normal circumstances, I heal faster than a human but this is a lot to bounce back from frankly, and without access to my own kitchen I’ll weaken pretty quickly too,” he grimaced. “I’m sorry that you got all mixed up in this.”

  “So… I’m going to be trapped in a dungeon with a hungry, wounded vampire is what you’re saying.” Caroline looked at him. “You’re certifiable.”

  Darien recoiled from her implication and looked at her, horrified.

  “Even starving I wouldn’t attack you or anything,” he said. The distaste in his voice was clear. “I don’t bite people. For one thing it’s rude. For another, there are so many regulations and rules I’d be breaking I can’t even count them all. I mean, I am a government agent. And besides all that, it would put me in a very…” he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She could almost see him counting in his head. “There is a thriving blood donation program for people like me. It’s like going to the grocery store, we buy canned food. We’re a pretty small minority even within the paranormal community so it’s not too terrible to keep up supplies. And we eat normal food too, we just have special supplementary needs in our diet, like I said.”

  “For blood.”

  “Well. Yeah. Man I can put away a rare steak like you wouldn’t believe.” He gave her a sad smile. She studied him silently for a few minutes and he finished his water.

  “And you look totally human. No fangs or anything?”

  “Not unless I’m eating, no. There are other, pretty particular sort of circumstances that a vampire looks more… er… intimidating. But they’re pretty specific, and you have to sort of willingly go into that sort of thing. The guys I’ve talked to that, um… slip into the full persona for lack of a better way to put it— they have described it as a sort of hyper focus. They’re the same people, but just very, very determined to do something.”

  “Something?”

  “They’re, um…” Darien looked uncomfortable. “They’re usually being interviewed after killing someone.”

  “Killing someone?” Caroline’s felt her eyes go wide while she imagined all the ways that a vampire could get violent. At least in the movies.

  “Yeah. Ninety percent of the time they were defending their family. That look on your face is why I didn’t want to mention it.”

  “Defending… Oh.” Caroline blinked. It made a sort of sense, actually. “Like puffer fish looking pretty dopey most of the time, but when they’re threatened, they get all big and spiky?” Darien chuckled and nodded.

  “A bit, I suppose.”

  “What did you stop yourself from saying a minute ago?” she asked. Might as well pass the time somehow. Delusion or no, it was better than staring at the walls and freaking out. Her parents must have called the police by now. Someone knew that she was missing, and if Darien was truthful about being a cop of some kind, then his department would hear about her and hopefully his fears about his captain wouldn’t prove true.

  “Wow. You really are good. Ever think about going into law enforcement? Even the human cops could use someone like you.” He grinned at her. “Tenacious.”

  “Thank you. Dodging again.” She said. He may be a little nuts, but she had to give him some credit. He was probably hallucinating a bit or something, as beat up as he was. And she was honestly glad of his company. It was getting cold now that the sun was down, and her adrenaline had worn off, and talking to him was helping her keep the panic at bay. She’d already fainted once, freaking out wouldn’t change anything and might actually hurt them both in the long run, so keeping up this weird sort of introduction to his world was helping her stay grounded, and Caroline suspected that he was well aware of that.

  “I am. It’s awkward. Kinda like talking about sex, frankly,” he said finally. “I bet you’re hungry, you should eat.” He nodded at the trays of food on the bed. Caroline took the hint and got up to bring the trays over. Then after refilling his water bottle from the rusty sink in the bathroom she sat down next to him again and started picking at the meal. Mac and cheese from a box, she hadn’t had this since she was a kid. It was cold now, but still edible. There was a granola bar, too. She opened one for Darien, since he was just fumbling with his thanks to his injured wrist.

  “Thanks. So,” He took a deep breath again. “I don’t really understand how the magic works, but it definitely isn’t like on TV. Yes, I need to consume blood to survive, and honestly if I had some right now I’d probably be healed up enough to get out of here in an hour or so. But no, we don’t just go around biting people in dark alleys to feed. Like I said earlier, we buy it canned.”

  “Well, you wouldn’t want to accidentally make lots of new vampires, I guess.” Caroline nodded. “Makes sense.”

  “No, you have to be born one to be one. That whole making new vampires with bites thing is a myth. The truth is that consuming blood straight from the source enters us into a… a sort of contract I guess you could say.”

  “A contract,” Caroline wished she could come up with something smarter to say than just repeating what he said half the time.

  “Yeah. Basically the vampire would be— I don’t know, indebted I guess? Maybe compelled is a bit more accurate— to stay near whoever they bit. To guard them, I guess. I’m not very sure, since I’ve only ever seen it in committed relationships and even then not often.” Darien shrugged. She heard an odd note in his voice, like he was trying not to think about something, but she was willing to ignore it. Maybe he had a nasty ex girlfriend in his past or something.

  “So you don’t drink right from the cow to avoid being forced to hang out with it.” Caroline grinned.

  “I wouldn’t put it quite like that. But it involves a level of trust and respect that—” Darien said. “Shit, they’re coming back again. Take the trays.” He grunted back to his feet and resumed his casual posture. Caroline didn’t argue, just scrambling to follow directions. She had just plopped down on the cot when the heavy clang indicated the door was about to open.

  Shiny came in again with more guards. Once again two of them kept their weapons pointed at Darien. A third moved towards the bed and grabbed Caroline by the arm. The grip was so tight she could feel the bruises forming under the man’s— elf’s?— fingers and an involuntary cry burst out of her.

  “You’ll stay quiet till you’re told otherwise.” The guard shook her roughly and she felt the prickle of tears as her arm started going numb in his crushing grip. Man, this guy was stronger than he looked.

  “What are you doing? Let her go.” Darien growled, the threat clear. Caroline glanced over and the friendly face she’d gotten used to had been replaced with something cold and hard.

  “You’re not really in a position to make demands, now are you? You may have been skilled enough to put up a fight before, but you’re not faster than a bullet. It doesn’t much matter what you are against one of those,” Shiny sneered. Caroline could still hear some of the anxiety in his voice, but it was less obvious now. He was getting more comfortable. He jerked his head and the guard hauled her out the door and down the hallway. As they were going she heard Shiny’s voice still taunting.

  “Seems you’re not very popular. Maybe she’ll have better luck than you did and someone will actually want her back.”

  That… did not sound good.

  She stumbled over the threshold of the prison room when the guard shoved. She hadn’t made many friends here at all, so she didn’t mind. Maybe mouthing off when they’d wanted to take her picture to send to her pa
rents hadn’t been such a great idea, but man. Shiny was such a pompous, self-absorbed prick that she couldn’t help it. He reminded her of one of the girls on the basketball team: smug because they’d won the championship the year before, even though this year they didn’t even make the playoffs.

  Her moment of verbal mastery had cost her, though, and she was now bleeding from her lip where she bit it when he smacked her and her arm where she’d cut it open on a broken tile when she landed hard on the floor after the blow. Not to mention all the bruises from being manhandled.

  “Darien?” She looked around and didn’t see him, but heard a groan from the bathroom door. The door was open a couple of inches, and she heard the water running, but aside from the groan, there was no answer. She went over and knocked, in case he… she wasn’t really sure but still. Manners, right?

  “Darien, are you in there?” She asked. She knew he was, she could sort of sense him, like when you walk into a room and know that you’re not alone. She swallowed her nerves down and put her hand on the door to push it open.

  Darian was there, sprawled face down on the floor in front of the sink where it seemed that he had been trying to drink. There was blood everywhere, and Caroline gagged when the smell of vomit hit her. At least he’d made it to the bathroom first. And… he wasn’t lying in the puddle of puke, so that was good. It was good. She reached over and tried to flush the worst of it away before putting her hand on his arm.

  “D, what should I do?” She heard her own voice, but it was hoarse and cracked when she spoke. She’d never watched someone die before, and he’d been really nice to her. Helped her not panic when she’d woken up here in this awful mess, and then tried to protect her when they’d come to take her away to take that stupid proof-of-life photo. Shiny had obviously stayed behind to do more than taunt Darien.