by J. J. Jones
I can see that Tom is thrilled, and Olivia seems excited to be working together as well.
We drive to Gerald’s address and the three of us follow the instructions from another officer to the murder scene. As always, I do my best to seem clueless to the details and information about the crime. Olivia seems different today for some reason. She seems more intent on me than on the crime scene. I try to signal to her that she needs to remain professional, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s something more than just our relationship.
Regardless, I work to learn about the crime scene and talk to all the right people just like I’m supposed to. I instruct Olivia and Tom to talk with the neighbors and family members in order to get statements. After I feel like we’ve done everything we can, I tell everyone that I’ll meet them back at the station.
I jump back in my patrol car and drive back to my office. I know the outcome of this crime. It will be just like all the other vampire vigilante crimes. It will be unsolved, because the vampire vigilante will never be caught.
As I drive I start to think about my relationship with Olivia. I am happier than I have ever been. Things are wonderful and amazing. I want to go out with her again. I decide to ask her out for that evening.
Once back in the office, I start going through my files, looking for another man that may have cheated the system. Unfortunately there are more than you may think. I can’t believe, now that I work in law enforcement, how many disgusting people I see that walk away from prison time because of a stupid technicality.
As I am perusing through my files, I barely notice when Olivia walks in.
“Hi,” she says.
“Oh, hi,” I reply pushing away the files a little awkwardly. “How are you?”
“I’m great. How are you?” she asks.
“Fine. Just trying to keep myself organized, ya know?” I reply pointing to all of the files on my desk.
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s not the fun part of the job.” She laughs.
I laugh, too. “Um, I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonight. Like get dinner or watch a movie or something?” I ask feeling awkward and strange.
“Oh, I wish I could, but I can’t, I actually have to work tonight. I’m on patrol,” she replies.
“Oh, of course. I probably knew that. I probably made the schedule,” I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck chuckling.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you did,” she laughed. “But I really wish I could go out with you instead. We’ll have to go out a different time.”
“Yeah another time,” I reply feeling like a complete idiot.
“Thank you for taking me out last night, Jack. I really had a good time,” Olivia became quite serious. “It’s one of the best dates I’ve had in really long time. I really appreciate everything you’ve done. I know we got off to a little bit of a rough start, but things are great now. You are really sweet.”
“I had a great time, too,” I reply. “Thanks for giving me a second chance.”
“Of course. Everyone deserves a second chance.” Olivia replies as she walks out of the office.
I watch as she walks away and down the hall. I can’t stop staring at her until she’s out of my sight.
I have a good happy feeling inside of me as I watch this. For a vampire, this is not a good thing..
Chapter12
“I am sorry Jack but I had to do it.”
Olivia
Dear Diary,
I’m a complete idiot. I have no idea what I am doing. Everything is a disaster in my life right now. I think I have fallen in love with a mortal. I don’t really know what love is, but if I did, I think I have fallen in it.
I have told you about Olivia before, so let me just say that she is perfect. Everything about her is perfect. Everything about me when I am with her is perfect. I can’t imagine being with anyone else other than her which is why it might be time to leave New York.
Before I even started to see her, I was thinking it was time to leave New York and start a life somewhere new, and now that I have gotten involved with someone it is really time to move on. Before it is too late.
I know that seems a little backwards, but I could be putting her in danger by remaining here. And the worst part is she doesn’t even know that she is roped into my mess by dating me. She thinks that we are just having a great time enjoying each other’s company when in reality she is truly in danger of being arrested or even worse being killed for being with me.
I can’t imagine doing that to Olivia. She is too special to me now. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to her now. But at the same time, I really don’t want to leave her yet I can not see any other way out of this. My situation has been compromised by my silly actions and I do not want another Chicago incident to play out.
And let’s not forget that someone has been tailing me recently. The other day I found a tailing bug on my car the other night. I don’t know how long it’s been there either. It could have been there a few hours or a few days for all I know. But one thing is for sure, whoever was tailing me, knew that I had been parked near Gerald’s house on the night he was murdered. It can’t be a coincidence either.
I am sure that someone is suspecting me of being the vampire vigilante and wanted to know where I was going. And now they have some proof I was at a crime scene during a murder. Nothing has happened as yet which actually worries me even more.
Anyway, I truly think it’s time I move on. I have done this plenty of times before and I know when my time is up. It’s just really hard to leave this time. It’s never been this hard to leave before. Every other time I’ve left long before now and it’s been really easy. I’ve just packed my things in one night and been gone by the next morning. I haven’t ever really missed anyone before.
This time will be hard. I’m not sure I will ever be able to find someone like Olivia in my life. I’m not sure I will ever want to find someone like her again. She would be hard to replace. If this is what love is, I’m not sure I want to feel it again, because it hurt way too much when you have to let it go.
I don’t know how to tell her, so I don’t think I will tell her anything. I think it will be easier for both of us that way. I’ve always left in the dead of night before, and I think that’s how I will leave again. Olivia works tonight and tomorrow night, so it will be easy to say goodbye without needing to make up too many excuses.
I just need to make sure I remain strong and resolved to leave this time. I will leave tomorrow.
Jack
I close my journal and stare out the window. There is nothing more that I want then to stay in New York and make a life with Olivia. I don’t understand how it all works, but I know that is what I want. But I also know that is what I can’t have. For her safety and mine, I can’t stay. I must leave, I must go. I know that it will probably break her heart when I do not show up to work the next day, but it is for the best. Usually when I leave, I go “missing” but with enough clues for investigators to presume I have been murdered. However, I can not do that this time. That would upset Olivia too much. I would much prefer to leave without saying anything and for her to just think of me as a cheating scumbag who probably ran away with
I spend the rest of the night staring out the window and resolving to leave. I keep telling myself to pack a box or two, but I just can’t make myself do anything, but stare out the window.
The next day at work nothing exciting happens. I wish it would. I sit in my office all day thinking about Olivia. There is a phone call now and then about Gerald’s case from autopsy or CSI letting me know that they have found nothing new to report.
I pass the information along to Brogan so that he is kept in the loop on the case. I see Olivia through out the day, but we don’t even exchange words. I want to talk with her, but I don’t really trust what I have to say, so I don’t make the effort to seek her out, but secretly I hope she finds me.
She doesn’t.
The end of the day comes, and
she finally comes into my office.
“Can you give me a ride home?” she asks which surprises me.
“Um, sure,” I reply a little confused.
“I’m on duty tonight, but I need to run home before Tom comes by to pick me up for patrol. I forgot a few things at home that I need for tonight.”
“Oh, yeah of course, I can do that for you,” I reply.
I grab my things and together we walk out. The drive is awkwardly quiet as we make our way to her house. I can’t think of anything to say and Olivia doesn’t make conversation either, which is unlike her. I wonder if she is somehow aware of my plans. Maybe that “female intuition” thing is actually real.
When we arrive at her house she quickly says, “Want to come in for a few minutes?” she raises her eyebrows and puts her hand on my thigh.
“Oh, I wish I could, but I promised Brogan I would get some, uh, paperwork into him, before five. I didn’t get it done before I left. I forgot so I’m going to run back to the precinct and get it in real fast. Uh, sorry,” I lie straight to her, but I just can’t go inside. I can’t do this one more time before I leave. It will make it too difficult for me when I’ve already resolved to go.
The disappointment on her face almost makes me cave in, but I look away and say nothing so she’ll just go. I can tell she’s hurt, but I don’t know what to say to make things better.
“Oh, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she says quickly obviously. A little embarrassed.
“Yeah of course, see you tomorrow,” I reply giving her a quick kiss but feeling terrible knowing that I won't be.
She jumps out of the car and runs inside. I quickly drive away before changing my mind. I head home and immediately start packing my things. I can feel a pain in my chest that I’ve never felt before. It’s heavy and weighs down on me as I pack.
I have to concentrate extra hard as I pack my things into my car because I know if I stop packing even for a second, I won’t start again. Everything seems so messed up now. I can’t believe that I am leaving Olivia to start a fresh, when I am so happy here. It seems backwards, but I know that I must do it. This is one of the many downsides of being what I am.
As I sit packing my books into a box, my world becomes hazy and cloudy. I can’t make out the titles to the books anymore and then everything becomes black. I see Olivia in Times Square with Tom. They are patrolling when a fight breaks out close to them. It is between two rival gangs. One man pulls out a gun and is ready to shoot into a group of other men. Olivia pulls her own gun to defend the group. The man turns his gun on Olivia and shoots at her.
She takes the bullet in her head and falls to the ground. The entire scene happens in a matter of seconds.
The world becomes less hazy and I am sitting back in my apartment a box in my lap and a set of books in my hands. I realize that I have just had a premonition. I have never had one before, but since this was about Olivia, I am not going to take the chance that this wasn’t real. I remember watching Twilight and laughing at how inaccurate it portrayed vampires especially since one of them could see the future, yet all of a sudden I could do this also. Perhaps, this ability only works for those you care about?
I immediately jump in my car and head to Times Square where I know Olivia is on patrol tonight. There is no way I am taking chances with this and I pray to the god of the humans that I am not going to be late. I never believed in praying before but the mortals swear by it and I need all the help I can get right now.
**
I am able to get to Times Square faster than most people and when I do, I notice that things seem to be normal. I keep my distance from Olivia, not wanting to alert her to my presence. I see her and Tom patrolling, laughing and joking with each other. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.
Just as I am about to turn and walk away ready to disregard my premonition, I see a familiar face. The man with the gun. His gun is not out yet, but it is the same man. He is dressed in jeans and a red t-shirt, nothing out of the ordinary, but a distinct tattoo crept from under his shirt and finished just beneath his ear. It was an open-mouth snake that looked as if it was about to devour his ear. He also had a nose piercing as well as gauges in his ears. There was no doubt this was the guy I had seen in my premonition. He is walking around Times Square and appears to be looking for a fight. I can see it in his face and can read it in his mind. He is angry and upset about something.
I notice that we are in the most crowded part of Times Square. Even now, at almost eleven on a weeknight where most parts of the city will be fairly deserted, this part of Times Square is busy with people. Shops and restaurants are still open, and I can see that many of the people here are tourists. This could potentially turn into something much worse than one person getting shot. It could easily turn into a hostage situation or a deadly shoot-out. My breathing becomes heavier, and I become much more nervous.
I look desperately around the square knowing that with things this busy there should be other officers on duty other than just Tom and Olivia. I don’t see anyone else. They must have been taken indoors somewhere with a dispute of some sort.
I see the crowd of men that he is targeting and know that my premonition is going to play out as I saw it if I don’t do something quickly. The man approaches the other men. I can see that they are rival gangs. I haven’t spent much time with the gang unit in the precinct, but I know enough to see these two rival gangs. I now notice that the single man is wearing red, while all the men in the crowd are wearing blue in some way, some in hats, t-shirts, or bandanas. Many of them have tattoos and pierces as well. I’m sure plenty of them are armed with guns and knives, too. They start to argue. The fight begins to escalate and the men start shouting threats back and forth across the square. Tourists and locals begin to back away and scatter. Olivia and Tom notice the fight and start to move their way over toward the men. Olivia’s hand begins to draw her gun.
I can’t hear her, but she shouts something at the men. I can see the single man with a gun, but Olivia can’t see that he has a gun drawn behind his back. She is yelling for him to show his hands. Everything has gone quiet and I can feel the tension in the air. No one is moving now, waiting – waiting to see what will happen.
He isn’t complying with her requests. Tom is moving toward the other men, the men in the crowd, making sure they are controlled. Tom isn’t even concerned about Olivia. I can feel the panic building in my chest as I see my premonition playing out. Olivia shouts again for the man to show is hands, and I see a slow smile curl across his lips.
My body moves without even thinking. I dart between Olivia and the man knocking Olivia to the ground just as he shoots. I don’t have time to see her pass out from knocking her head as I take the bullet in my shoulder from the man. I look up just as I see him and all the other men darting scattering away from the scene.
I collapse to the ground as chaos ensues around me. At the sound of a gun shot, Tom rushes to our aid, calling for back-up and saying that there are officers down.
I quickly stand up and tell Tom I’m not hurt, so he should pursue the men, and I will take care of Olivia. He asks if she is shot, but I tell him she is just knocked out. He seems relieved. Tom is one to follow orders and not question anything, so he runs off to pursue them while I wait for an ambulance for Olivia.
I definitely can not leave her like this.
**
I wait for Olivia to waken in the hospital. It doesn’t take took long and doctors tell me that she will make a full recovery but might feel a bit dazed. While I wait I have plenty of time to think things over. Seeing what happened has made me decide it might actually be better to stay in NYC at least for a short while. I need to make sure Olivia is safe before I make my final decision.
I watch until finally her eyes flutter open.
“Jack?” she says when she sees me.
“Olivia,” I say happily. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a train,” she says.
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“Well at least you’re awake. You took a little bit of a fall. What do you remember?” I ask anxiously.
“Not a whole lot, to be honest, what happened?” she asks to my relief.
“You were patrolling Times Square and there was a shoot out. You were knocked out,” I reply.
“Oh, yeah, I kind of remember that,” she says rubbing the side of her head.
“Were you there?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I reply trying to keep my place in the situation vague.
“Why were you there?” she asks.
“Oh, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” I state.
“No, that’s not right,” she says starting to put things together. “You were in the middle of the fight. I remember now,” she looks up at me. “Why were you there, Jack?”
“It’s like I said, I was just in the right place at the right time,” I say again.
