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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 11:40:39 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
It started with a phone call.
I was in, of all places, Tempe, partying with what must have been an entire house of frat boys. They were beautiful creatures – blond, tanned, muscular, and dumber than a box of hair. God, they were glorious. They bought me drinks, told me I was beautiful, were impressed with my war stories, hung on my every word and didn't want anything more than a blow job in return for their largess. No complicated, messy feelings, no everlasting declarations of my undying love. Nope, they were happy with a little foolin' around and the chance to brag that some guys in their house had banged a stunning lawyer. I didn't mind meeting their requirements; in fact, it was precisely the reason why I was in a college-town bar in the first place.
My Blackberry rang just as I was downing a shot of Patron with the most beautiful of the bunch, a cute 21-year-old junior named Joey...or maybe it was Jamie? I fumbled for the phone, nearly dropping it in an attempt to pretend that I was drunk. I glanced at the in-coming call display. Crap. Then I plastered on a slightly empty, slightly out-of-focus smile, held up my phone and shouted over the sound of the bar's band, “I have to take this!” Joey/Jamie nodded and held up two shots, some sort of reminder to come back when I was done with my call. I upped the amperage in my smile and turned away from him, angling towards the front door of the place.
“Hello?” I screamed into the phone. “Hang on a second – let me get somewhere quieter!” I pushed open the door, reflexively taking a curious inhalation of the initial rush of air as I stepped outside. All clear – no scary Creatures of the Night skulking about. I moved off a little way from the entrance and held the phone up to my ear again. “Sorry, about that. This is Riley O'Rourke.”
“Ms O'Rourke, this is Jan with the DA's office?” said a slightly neurotic-sounding young woman. “You're on deck and Patty told me to call you with this new case.”
Crap, I thought again. “Jan, I'm in Tempe. It's going to take me at least two hours to get down there. Isn't there anyone else to call?”
“No, Ms O'Rourke. You're the only ADA on call tonight.”
I sighed and pressed my forehead tightly against the rough surface of the bar's brick wall. “Fine,” I said. “I need at least two hours in that case. Gimme the details.” I straightened and squared my shoulders, immediately shucking the drunk air-head facade I'd been working so hard to affect all evening. I went to the valet's booth and handed over my claim ticket as I listened to Jan. My Porsche Boxster was soon parked at the kerb. I tipped the valet with whatever bills I had stuffed in my bag and slid into the car. After putting on my seat belt, I left the college town behind, headed south on I-10, towards Tucson.
“A man...uh, Jared Cooper...was brought in after destroying some bar down on Fourth Avenue,” she explained. “He claims it was self-defence. He's in holding downtown, awaiting processing.”
“Jared Cooper? The guy who owns Shadows?” I asked, referring to one of the most famous bars in Tucson.
“Yes, Ms O'Rourke,” answered Jan. “That's him. Officers on scene took statements. Forensics is processing the place now.”
I sighed deeply. “Jan, I can't take this case. I'm friends with Cooper. Find someone else.”
Jan sighed, too. I could hear papers being shuffled somewhere in the background and glanced at the clock. Christ, it was past midnight. I looked into the rear view mirror and was pleased to see that my carefully applied make-up had survived the evening's activites. One hand on the wheel, the other on the gear stick, with the phone pressed tightly between my ear and my shoulder, I wove down the freeway, dodging slower moving mini-vans and ridiculously giant SUVs. Finally Jan's voice came back on the line. “Patty's not happy, Riley, but she's turning it over to Scotts. She says to come in anyway. Maybe you can help him.” Scotts had replaced me as the baby of the DA's office. A very recent graduate of the University of Arizona's law programme, Jared's case would be the baby's first foray into the legal system.
“Awesome,” I muttered and casually flipped off the driver of a pick-up whom I'd just cut off. “Who is representing Jared? Do we know?”
“Public defender is my guess,” Jan said with an audible smirk. “Should I tell Patty you're on your way in?”
“Yeah, I'll meet Scotts at Stone Avenue in two hours.” I hung up and swore viciously in Japanese. Maybe I should have stayed at the bar. I could have been in bed with one or two luscious college boys in two hours, not sitting in some interrogation room in Tucson, watching as a nearly inept first year mangled my friend's case. Damn my luck!
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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 11:41:43 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
As I sped through the moonlit Sonoran desert, I dialled the number Jan had given me for Jared's emergency contact. I felt a little thrill of fear skitter down my spine as I pressed the send button on the phone. What did one say to a 3,000-year-old vampire? How did one address a creature that predated Christianity by a thousand years? Mr Onyx? Onyx? Jesus wept. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
A millisecond after the phone started ringing, it was answered. “Hello, this is Onyx speaking.” The voice on the other end of the connection was very quiet and I was immediately thankful that I'd kept the top up on the Porsche. The speaker was neither deep-voiced, nor particularly high-pitched, and there was no discernible accent, either. He was, in fact, very normal sounding, sorta like what one might expect to hear if one phoned the local FBI office – coolly polite, emotionless, and practised.
“Onyx,” I went with the single word, knowing he'd correct me if there should be a honourific before his name. “This is Riley O'Rourke, from the Pima County DA's office. How are you tonight?” I glanced into my rear view mirror and my eyes were wide, showing the whites all around like a spooked horse. I took a deep breath and laboured to slow my heart beat.
“Fine, thank you,” he answered. “I hope I didn't interrupt anything too important.”
I made a sour face, instantly glad that he couldn't see it. “No, no. It's fine. I wanted to call and let you know that because of my relationship with Jared, I will not be the lead on his case. I will, however, be assisting Anthony Scotts, who will be Jared's attorney.”
“Assisting? What exactly does that mean?”
“This will be Mr Scotts' first trial, so I'll be there to help him out with proceedings and strategy and things like that. Have you found a lawyer for him? Or are you using the public defender's office?”
“I do employ an attorney, however he is an estate lawyer with no experience in defense. Because I am hoping this case will be resolved quickly and without a great deal of attention from the media, I'm afraid a public defender is the only viable option.”
I made a little acknowledging sound. “Good thinking. Well, I think you can rest assured that the DA's office is willing to work within those parameters,” I said with a little grin. “After all, we can't let the general populace know what's going on right under their noses.”
“I'm glad you understand, Ms O'Rourke.”
I was silent for a moment as I navigated past an 18-wheeler carrying a load of what smelled like pigs. “Can you tell me what happened tonight? How'd Jared get arrested?”
“I was not there personally,” he explained. “However, I spoke to a regular patron of Shadows named Jim Garcia who witnessed the incident.”
“Oh, great. There are witnesses then. The police who came to pick Jared up, did they stick around to take statements or did they instruct people to come in tomorrow morning?”
“No, they remained to take statements,” the vampire replied.
“Good,” I said and was quiet again for a moment. Then I continued, “Without knowing any of the particulars of the case, and without making any promises, I'll try my hardest to keep him out of jail. He does has several things going for him – it's his first arrest and he's a business owner. If it does end up going to trial, I'll offer his lawyer a probation only deal, and he'd be a fool to pass that up.”
“Thank you very much, Ms O'Rourke.” A hint of friendly warmth crept into his voice and I smiled reflexively.
“You're welcome. I'll be at TPD headquarters in about an hour and a half. Will you be there as well?”
“This your area of expertise. Do you think I should be there?”
“He'll need someone to give him a ride home, so yeah, I think you should be there,” I chuckled softly.
“Very well then. I will see you at the police station in an hour and a half. Thank you again for your help. I look forward to meeting you in person.”
“Me, too. 'Til then,” I said and hung up. Oh my god. My hands were shaking and my heart was racing. I was an hour and a half away from meeting the oldest creature possibly in existence, a freaking vampire. I really, really hoped that Jaguar wasn't on the menu tonight.
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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 11:42:19 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
It was closer to two hours before I arrived at the downtown headquarters of the Tucson Police Department. I had to stop home and change my clothing. I didn't think it would reflect well upon the august reputation of the Pima County District Attorney to have one of her ADAs show up in a professional capacity wearing a scrap of silk that masqueraded as a skirt and a pair of five-inch f*ck-me pumps. After quickly dressing in a heathered-grey Dolce and Gabbana suit, two-inch heels, and running a brush through my hair, I left my house and sped through the city.
Luckily, and despite the fact that it was past two a.m. on a Sunday morning, TPD headquarters was relatively quiet. I pulled into the parking lot next to the building and climbed out of the Porsche, carrying my briefcase and taking another testing scent of the air. Though I'd been a Lycanthrope for little over eight years, I was still only an Omega and very definitely low man on the totem pole. I was painfully aware of the fact that there were creatures out there who were bigger, badder, and far more powerful than I. And I was meeting with one of them right now.
I didn't smell anything out of the ordinary...no, wait. I did. Something that crawled through my head, completely bypassing my higher functions, to shake hands with my lizard brain, that part of me that existed solely to keep me alive. A flush of goose-pimples broke out along my forearms and down my spine. The tiny hairs at the back of my neck stood straight up. The air in front of the building, in a little corner unlit by street lights, smelled of ancient blood, a dry, empty scent like cast-off snake scales. Vampire. I'd smelled it on Jared many times in the year since I'd first met him, but I'd never, ever smelled it this powerfully. I shivered and successfully resisted the urge to climb back into the car and drive away at full speed. I suddenly felt intensely sorry for the humans. They had no idea what was happening right beneath their noses, no clue about what sorts of creatures existed just below the thin veneer of humanity painted over the world.
Taking a deep breath and inwardly marshaling my strength, I began walking toward the building with slow, deliberate steps. A man came slowly out of the shadows and at first, I was certain it wasn't the vampire. It couldn't be the vampire. I had nearly a foot in height on this guy! He barely topped five feet tall and probably weighed at least twenty pounds less than my 125. His hair was jet black and very long. He wore it pulled back into a tight braid, the tail of which hung down to the small of his back. His skin wasn't pale like a corpse's; instead it was the tan of someone who had spent a lifetime out of doors. He was dressed in tailored black pants and a charcoal grey silk shirt and there was a look of concern in his dead black eyes. “Miss O'Rourke?” he asked and I caught a flare of power off him that had me shivering again and certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was Onyx.
I nodded. “That's me,” I replied.
“I'm Onyx,” he said. “Thanks for coming.”
I took a step forward and stuck my hand out, falling back on my professional training. He took my hand and I couldn't keep the surprise out of my eyes when we touched. His skin wasn't any warmer than the ambient temperature of the air around us, and it felt like steel with a coating of hard rubber. It went far beyond mere callouses, far beyond working-man's hands. No matter how much physical labour a guy might do, he'd never, ever have hands that felt like that. It was...disconcerting and unsettling in the extreme. I swallowed and released his hand, turning so that I was facing the building and so I could sneak a quick second to compose myself. “Let's go inside and see what's what, shall we?”
The vampire nodded and we trooped inside. After a brief pause at the duty sergeant's desk, where I surrendered my driver's license in exchange for a visitor's badge, I waited silently for the detective to come and collect me. I tried not to glance too often in the general direction of Onyx but I was utterly fascinated by him. He sat quietly in a chair near the front doors, not moving, not speaking, not blinking. He reminded me of a snake I'd once come across out in the desert – motionless and hypnotising.
The sudden arrival of the detective, a handsome piece of work named Deacon Lindley, who had a smile that slayed me every time I saw it despite a very messy break-up we'd had a year ago, yanked me out of my ruminations and I followed him to an interrogation room. Deacon explained that Jared was being photographed and fingerprinted and as soon as that was done, he'd be brought up to meet with us. I nodded and slipped into the tiny, windowless room. The baby ADA, Anthony Scotts, was already seated and looked up at me as I entered. I caught a flash of relief in his eyes so intense that I could taste it. “Oh, thank god, you're here, O'Rourke,” he said to me.
I smirked and settled down in the chair next to him. “Relax, Scotts. You're a lawyer, remember?” I glanced down at the table, over which Scotts had scattered a bunch of documents – the contents of Jared's arrest file. I picked them up, put them in logical order – witness statements, incident report, preliminary forensics – and began reading through them. Next to me, worry and anxiety poured off my colleague. Jaguar woke up and stretched, filling the inside of my body with the warm velvety softness of Her fur. Scotts was only prey to Her; he was nothing more than a rabbit. She growled at me, frustrated that it still more than twelve hours before Full Moon. She wanted out of Her cage to play.
In the time it took to finish processing Jared and bring him to the interrogation room, I'd finished reading the file twice and his public defender had shown up. She was an iron-haired, matronly woman with a pinched face that reminded me of a stork who had just eaten a raw lemon. She had the unlikely name of Mrs Percival-Levi and shook hands with me as if I was coated in the Ebola virus.
“It's a pretty clear cut-case of self-defence,” I said without preamble. “I'm prepared to recommend dismissing the charges against Mr. Cooper.” I glanced at Scotts and saw more profound relief flood his features. He nodded, the stork nodded, and we all had a rousing round of paperwork. When Jared was led into the room, handcuffed and sans shoes, he was informed that he was a free man. I thought he was going to kiss me soundly but instead he just shook my hand like he was working a giant bellows in a smithy's shop.
Deacon came back, smelling like hot buttered sex, and informed Jared that he had more paperwork to sign before he was released. Scotts and I left the room, followed quickly by Percival-Levi. We paused at the duty sergeant's desk, signed more stuff and then Scotts and the stork left. I hung around, waiting for Jared to come out.
Onyx stood when he saw us, but stayed back until the mortals were gone. “You got him off, then?” he asked me, the relief he obviously felt showing in his eyes.
I nodded. “It was obviously self-defence. There were witnesses who stated that he was attacked first, that he'd given the guy plenty of warning and ample opportunity to leave the bar.” I shrugged and smiled. “It wasn't worth the tax payers' money.”
“I appreciate your help, Miss O'Rourke—very much so. My friends are very important to me. If ever there's something I can do for you in return, you have but to ask.”
“Please, it's just Riley, if we're going to be friends.” I grinned. “Actually, there is a pair of Louboutin pumps I've been lusting after—only two hundred and fifty dollars.” The vampire chuckled and something told me that there would soon be a new pair of shoes in my closet.
Jared appeared and as soon as he saw us, he broke into a big grin and practically ran to meet us. “Thanks for coming,” he said to Onyx, then turned to me and spread his arms like he wanted a hug. “Riley! You're a lifesaver.”
“You idiot, next time stay out of trouble.” I hugged him and couldn't help but laugh at Jared's rueful expression.
“Yes, Mother,” he replied contritely.
I arched one eyebrow at him. “Mother?” Then I glanced at my watch. It was nearly four. The sun would be rising soon. “Time to get home, Grandpa?” The vampires nodded and we left the station...only to discover several people leaning against my car. They looked like hired thugs. I sighed deeply. Awesome. A fight. The perfect ending to a perfect night. Well, at least I'd get the opportunity to work off some of my sexual frustrations.
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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 11:47:43 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
“Hold it,” Onyx said to us, stretching out his hand so that Jared and I stayed behind him. “We might have trouble here. I want you two to stay back here a moment.” Jared nodded and came to stand closer to me. I bristled at the vampires' assumption that I couldn't handle myself in a fight. Until I really looked at the thugs by my car. Three of them looked like normal, run-of-the-mill hired muscle, big and bulky but not obscenely so. Two of them looked like Schwarzenegger did when he was Mr Universe...only on serious steroids. Their biceps were easily the same circumference as my waist. The sixth guy was almost completely hidden behind my car; all that was visible was his head, and wow, that was some gigantic head!
Onyx moved to walk out towards them and that giant head started to rise...and rise...and rise some more. When he was standing finally, he must have been at least 12 feet tall. “F*ck,” I said softly and Jared made a little strangled sound of surprise. When Onyx was no closer than fifteen feet to the group, he froze. A deep, uncomfortable silence ensued, and then the giant spoke in a voice so deep that I could feel it in my chest. “Give us the box,” he said.
“I no longer have it,” Onyx replied calmly. “Go home.” Jared and I exchanged looks, my brow arching in surprise and admiration. The Elder vampire was so calm, so self-assured. If he was fighting on our side, there was no way these guys would beat us, no matter how gigantic they were.
The giant sneered at Onyx, his lips peeling back to expose sharp and pointy teeth. Not fangs like the vampires had, nor fangs like mine when I was Jaguar. More like sharks' teeth – each one filed to a point. “Surrender it now,” he said, his voice rumbling over me like thunder, “and we might let you live.”
“I won't warn you again,” Onyx said.
The brute laughed. “I was under the impression that I was the one doing the warning. I'm running out of patience. I want the box now, or I will be forced to kill you and your friends.” He paused and looked me over. “Or maybe I'll keep the woman for a while.”
It was all I could do to keep from shuddering and whimpering. “Uh, Onyx?” I said, proud of myself for keeping my voice steady. “Maybe you should just give them this box and we'll all go our separate ways?” I'd gladly pit my strength against one or maybe two of the average-looking guys, but there was no way I'd take on any more than that. I was only an Omega Lycan, weak, slow, and generally ineffectual.
“As I told him already, I no longer have it,” Onyx said to me. Then he started moving forward again, keeping his eyes on the hulking brute but obviously not taking his attention away from the other five, either.
With a sudden roar, the titanic figure stooped slightly and hefted my car without any hint of strain. An instant later, he hurled the vehicle directly at the Elder vampire. Onyx dove to the ground immediately, which of course put Jared and I squarely in the hurtling car's path. Jared and I moved to spread out some, putting five feet between us, hoping that the Porsche would land in the middle and not hit either of us. It would still hit us, of course, and my brilliant legal career would end with a bang...and probably a great deal of whimpering, too. I'd be squashed into a paste and Deacon would have to scrape my body off his parking lot. Knowing him, he'd curse me bitterly for leaving a stain.
From the ground, Onyx launched himself into a flat dive, aimed between us. He was moving fast enough to outrun the flying car, but not by much. As he drew even with us, he grabbed Jared and me by an arm each and tugged us down, pulling us under the path of the car, so that it would fly straight over our heads without touching us.
Unfortunately, in saving us, Onyx had left himself exposed. One of the car's tires clipped him in the back of the head, sending him tumbling forward into the ground. He managed to get his hands in front of him, though. His palms dug short furrows in the asphalt as he stopped himself, then stood. No damage was done to any of us, but I could see that Onyx was annoyed. Behind me, I heard a tremendous crash as my car slammed into the police station. Oh, awesome. How would we explain that to the flood of law enforcement officials when they poured out of the building in approximately five seconds from now? “Oopsie-daisy! Sorry, guys. This dude doesn't know his own strength!” Somehow, I didn't think that would fly with the cops.
“God damn it!” I shouted, rounding on the giant and giving him a look of sheer cold rage. “I just finished making payments on that car, you stupid, dimwitted moron!” I stepped out of my shoes and kicked them away and then stripped off my suit jacket, tossing it heedlessly to the side. “Oh, it is so on, buddy!” I said through clenched teeth. Jared and Onyx exchanged looks of incredulity and Jared snickered at me and my bravado.
Onyx sprinted towards the giant, leaving the other five to Jared and I. I tried to manoeuvre myself so that I could engage the smaller two, and let Jared pit his vampire strength against the rest. I didn't know how old Jared was, but I felt reasonably sure he was stronger and faster than me. Putting Jared and the other three guys out of my mind for the moment, I cast about quickly for something to throw or use as a club. I spotted a chunk of asphalt that had been broken up by Onyx's skid across the parking lot. It was a goodly-sized chunk, maybe equal to someone's head. I stooped and picked it up, then threw it with all my strength at the closest of the two guys.
I always sucked at sports. I was tall, thin, and gangly as a teen-ager. My body was suited for dance and cross-country running, not baseball. I had no aim and totally threw like a girl, but at least the chunk of parking lot hit the guy with a glancing blow to the temple. Luckily for me, I was much stronger than I looked. Asphalt is not a particularly pleasant thing to get hit with, and the side of the guy's face, including his ear, was torn open. Bits of gravel and grit embedded themselves in the wound, which bled like a stuck pig, as head wounds are wont. The blow also staggered the guy. He grabbed his head and wobbled for a moment. I turned my attention to guy number two now.
He was all up in my face now, grabbing for my arms to pin them to my sides. I froze momentarily, surprised by seeing him that close to me. It was all the time he needed to get me in a bear hug and yank me off the ground. I'm ashamed to say that I squealed like a frightened little girl and began struggling against his hold. He only laughed and held onto me that much more securely. I wished I had kept my heels on; maybe I could have kicked him in the shin with the point of the stiletto or something. I looked around. Jared was fighting with two guys simultaneously and Onyx had his hands full – literally – with the giant. It appeared as if I was on my own.
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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 11:53:24 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? I took a deep breath, tried to steel myself for the explosion of pain I was about to cause myself – and hopefully the dude holding me me some three or four inches off the ground, too – and smashed my forehead forward with a sharp jerk. It worked...and it f*cking hurt, too! There was a satisfying crunch and a warm spray of blood as my forehead connected with the bridge of the guy's nose, flattening it and more importantly, causing him to drop me and stagger away. I saw stars, though, and was dizzy for half a second until I could shake it off.
I knew that I had to quickly follow this up with something equally decisive, so I threw an inexpert roundhouse right into the guy's jaw. I was only an Omega Lycan – low, weak girlie-man on the totem pole – but I was still considerably stronger than the average Joe. My fist landed hard on his face, snapping his head aside and spinning him around to land with a heavy thud on the ground. I drew my foot back and sent a snap kick into his ribs, a fierce smile when I heard and felt some of them crack.
I heard a noise behind me and whipped around to see the guy I'd thrown the piece of asphalt at staggering to his feet. I was invincible! I'd beaten the sh*t out of the guy lying in a huddled heap at my feet! I could take this guy – no sweat, right? Yeah, wrong. His stumbling and staggering, moaning and groaning was a feint. The moment I got close to him, his hand shot out at my head and he grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking my head back hard enough to draw tears. I squealed again in pain and blindly began clawing and scratching at his face. I sunk my fingernails into his cheek and ripped away a good portion of his flesh.
He backhanded me away, his hands coming up to grab at his ruined face. I stumbled backwards and stood dazed for a moment, before tackling him to the ground in a flying leap, my shoulder connecting solidly with his midsection. Junior Seau would have been proud of that move. We landed in a tangled heap and my reflexes combined with the fact that I wasn't missing half of my face gave me the chance to send a flurry of punches to the guys head and throat. One of them landed on his Adam's apple, effectively cutting off his airway and putting him out of the fight.
I climbed slowly to my feet and looked around. Jared was fighting with the third and last of his opponents and it appeared as if that fight would soon be over. Onyx was standing next to the giant's prone body. I giggled, the sound thready and wild; I thought maybe I'd managed to give myself a concussion with the head-butt.
“FREEZE!” came an angry shout from behind me. The two vampires and I whirled around, our jaws hanging open in shock. Jesus, how could I have forgotten the fact that the giant had thrown my car at the police station!? I scanned the sea of angry faces, loaded guns pointed at us, and picked Deacon out of the crowd. I took a step forward, my eyes locked with his.
“Deacon, c'mon. You know me! You know I'm not armed – you know none of us are. These guys,” and I turned to motion to the inert bodies that were cluttering up the parking lot, “attacked us. We defended ourselves.”
"Put 'em away, guys. They're not armed," Deacon said and moved to the front of the pack. He closed the distance to me, his eyes a little wide with wonder and disbelief. “Perhaps you could explain how you three managed to take out-” there was a brief pause as he counted bodies; by some crazy stroke of luck, the giant's body was far enough away that it escaped his notice, “five large, armed men?”
“Well,” I said and gestured at Onyx, “he's my self-defense instructor. He's got god only knows how many black belts.” Then I pointed at Jared. “This is one of his best students. We simply defended ourselves as Onyx has taught us.” I smiled sweetly at Deacon, willing him to believe me.
“I see,” said Deacon. I could hear skepticism in his voice, but it was better than outright disbelief. “So the three of you went Bruce Lee on these five, and none of you even got bruised? You must be one hell of a teacher,” he finished, looking at Onyx, who bowed deeply and silently to Deacon. Apparently the vampire had decided to keep quiet and play along with me. “Alright,” Deacon finally said. “I'm not going to argue with you right now. Let's go inside and you can tell me the full story.”
I nodded immediately. “Of course.” The vampires and I walked slowly back into the station. They stayed a step or two behind me, letting me keep the lead. I was doing fine so far. Now, if I could just keep it up. It didn't help that Deacon and I had enjoyed a physical relationship – he knew me very, very well. Once inside, I turned to Jared and Onyx and said to them in a low whisper, “Just cooperate with them. Answer their questions and don't make any trouble. We were only defending ourselves.” I was quite impressed by my quick thinking - I'd not only come up with a story that was plausible, but it very neatly explained the ease with which Jared had injured the belligerent patron earlier this evening. Now if only Deacon would believe it.
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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 11:56:43 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
Deacon decided to handle my questioning himself, while he sent Onyx and Jared off with two other detectives. The fact that Deacon and I had been involved with each other for six months was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, he knew me and my tells very well. On the other hand, I knew precisely how to distract him and sideline him. I'm not proud to admit that this was exactly what I did during our Q&A session.
I took off my suit jacket and unbuttoned the first four buttons on my blouse, giving him a lovely view of my Wonder Bra-created cleavage. I played with my hair, gave him lots of coy looks from underneath my lashes, laughed at all of his stupid jokes. I flirted shamelessly with him and he lapped it up like a cat with a bowl of milk.
And then the first tremor hit.
Now, this isn't Southern California. There's no big, gaping trench running through the middle of the city. We get occasional earthquakes, but they're usually only reports on the evening news – no one actually feels them. This one was different. I could feel it, hear it. Deacon and I locked eyes for a moment and I knew that the surprise and fear that was painted all over his face was reflected in mine.
“The f*ck was that?” Deacon asked me. He was born and bred in Detroit and despite the fact that he went through training at SEAL Beach in San Diego, was unfamiliar with earthquakes. He popped up out of his chair and went to the door of the interrogation room, opened it and stuck his head out into the hallway.
Another tremor hit, this one bigger than the first.
“Sh*t, Ri,” Deacon said and whirled around to look at me. “What do we do? Stand in the doorway? Get under the desk?” I could taste the fine, silver edge of his panic and it alternately amused me and frightened me. I stood and went to the doorway to look out, discreetly taking Deacon's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Everyone I saw was in some sort of alert, suspended animation – frozen, eyes wide, a look of intense concentration on their faces as they waited to see if the Earth would decide to dance again.
Across the hall from me, the doors to the two other interrogation rooms opened, and Jared and Onyx came out, Onyx coming to stand next to me. “Are you all right?” he asked me. I nodded and then he turned to look at Jared. The younger vampire's face was an exact replica of Deacon's. Onyx began to make his way back to Jared's side when a third tremor hit, this one strong enough that it made several people stagger. “Get everyone outside and away from the building,” he said, his voice full of authority.
Deacon blinked, snapped his gaze to the ancient vampire, and nodded. “C'mon, guys. You heard him; let's take this show on the road.” He tugged gently at my hand and then – reluctantly – let go of it to move toward the front of the building. A fourth quake hit the building, this one causing filing cabinets to tumble over and a couple of people to fall to their knees as well. “Sh*t,” Deacon cursed and shouted for people to hurry up and get out.
The building quickly emptied and we crossed the street to the small park that provided a little pocket of safety from tall buildings, in case they decided to tumble to the ground. A fifth tremor hit and my eyes widened as I realised that it was only affecting the ground the police station was on. We could see cars moving up and down in the parking lot, trees swaying and could hear more equipment and desks falling over, but could feel nothing of what caused it. This tremor was the strongest one yet; cracks began to spread through the walls of the station as the building itself trembled violently. I heard gasps, curses, and screams as the police and other station personnel reacted with disbelief and terror at the assault on their station. After thirty seconds of continuous shaking, pieces of the walls and roof began tumbling to the ground, some of them bigger than a man. Fissures began spreading across the ground, joining others in an ever-expanding network.
The quaking stopped, but the building was too badly damaged. More pieces fell, and I could see the walls beginning to buckle under the strain. Someone yelled, “It's gonna collapse!” A moment later, the prediction was borne out when the shaking began yet again. With a roaring crash, the walls fell in, sending a cloud of dust and debris into the air. The ground itself sunk in, pulling the remains of the station into a newly-formed crater. When the dust settled enough to see through, we all stared in shock at the hole; all that remained of the entire police station was a few chunks of rubble that had been thrown free of the pit.
“What the hell just happened”? One of the policeman asked of the world in general. Most of the people around him were too stunned to respond, but a few shook their heads, unable to offer any explanation. The silence lasted for almost a full minute, then people began talking all at once. I listened to their shaken voices as they tried to make sense of the events.
“The station just collapsed...”
“It's gone...”
“What kind of quake hits a single building...?”
The babble was cut off suddenly when a man appeared on the far edge of the crater. He looked completely normal, except for a red nimbus surrounding him. He began walking towards us as if the pit wasn't there, striding casually across thin air. “I'm not seeing that,” Deacon muttered. Despite his shock, he reacted quickly, drawing his gun and training it on the floating man. The other officers surged through the crowd, shoving us civilians behind them as they fanned out into a protective line, putting themselves between us and the floaty guy.
“Hold it right there,” Deacon shouted. The glowing figure ignored him, continuing his sedate approach. “I don't know what the hell you are, but you'd better stop right now!”
This time, the man did stop, but only for a moment. He paused in mid-stride and gestured at Deacon's gun. Instantly, it glowed red hot, falling from his burned hands as he yelped in pain and shook his injuries wildly. The glowing figure took another step toward us, then the rest of the police opened fire. A fusillade of bullets struck the aura around the man, flaring whitely and vanishing without touching him.
The man's slow pace didn't waver as the bullets spent themselves impotently against the energy surrounding him. When he reached the edge of the crater, he stepped onto the ground as though he'd never been floating, and I could see fire flickering around the edges of the feet.
“Madre de Dios,” a patrol woman gasped as she fished a rosary out of her uniform shirt, “es el mismo Satanás.” I found myself nodding in agreement. He did bear more than a passing resemblance to the Christian Devil. His face was narrow, with a small, pointed beard and a rather sinister-looking mustache. He wore a long hooded cloak. He walked closer to us, leaving flaming footprints in the asphalt.
"Oh, Riley?" Deacon called back to me over his shoulder. "You got some 'splaining to do later." I snorted. Like I had any clue what was going on. But that was Deacon for you - any time we were together and something weird happened, it was automatically my fault. Granted, that was normally true, but this time, I had nothing to do with any of it.
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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 12:00:03 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
As the man kept walking casually toward us, Onyx darted forward, scooped up a head-sized chunk of rubble and threw it hard at him. There was a bright flash of light as it hit the guy's glowy-red-nimbus-thing and vanished just like the bullets had. Onyx had managed to get his attention, though; whether that would prove to be a good thing or a bad thing was yet to be determined.
The guy stopped walking and looked intently at the vampire. “So,” he said in a basso profundo voice that I felt vibrate in my chest. “You must be the one I was warned of.” His voice was cultured and smooth, like a radio announcer. “You won't find me as easy to defeat as was my large companion,” he continued. He raised one hand and pointed at Onyx. For a few seconds, it seemed as nothing was happening, then I began to smell smoke. I glanced at Onyx, and saw his clothes smoldering as though he had leaned too close to a fire.
“Sh*t, Onyx,” Jared breathed, a sentiment perfectly mirrored in my own expression. Onyx's clothes burst into sudden flame, and I could see it on his face as he fought to control the involuntary panic that accompanied the fire – fire was one of the only things that could still hurt the 3,000-year-old creature. He dropped immediately to the ground, rolling in an attempt to douse the burning, while all around us, police whipped off their jackets to help smother the fire.
It didn't help, and I felt the heat pouring off Onyx's body. He sprang to his feet once more and lunged for a piece of the station house. He yanked it off the ground, raising it above his head as smoke began wafting from his skin. I could hear a faint sizzling sound coming from him and my gag reflex kicked in as his skin began to bubble and hiss. Onyx hurled the huge piece of masonry at the sorcerer and when it was halfway to him, the first small, pale flames started to lick up and down his arms and legs. He staggered backwards, closing his eyes to protect them from the fire.
A flash of light erupted when Onyx's missile struck the man's flaming aura. There was an explosion, then the concussion blew the beleaguered vampire off his feet to skid backwards, leaving burned bits of skin and flesh along his path like a macabre sidewalk drawing.
He tried to rise, but it was no use. He'd just taken too much damage. I watched as his body went limp, finally giving way to what must have been blessed oblivion. I exchanged frightened looks with first Jared and then Deacon...and I watched as that fright was slowly replaced by cold, hard anger in the detective's face. “Right,” he said and stood up straighter. “What the f*ck just happened?” He glanced around, seeking elucidation on the faces of his fellow officers. There was none to be found, however. Jared, Onyx, and I were the only ones who had any inkling about what was going on and none of us were going to reveal the hidden world of the preternatural that lurked just beneath the surface.
Deacon holstered his gun and carefully picked his way towards the crater when a beautiful Japanese woman suddenly appeared in his path. The Devil was staggering to his feet, looked dazed from the impact and subsequent explosion that Onyx's missile had caused. The Japanese woman moved to stand next to Onyx, hovering above him like she was protecting him from the Devil. Deacon's face was an open book, written in 72-point glowing green neon confusion. I could see his hand hovering above his gun once more, as if he couldn't decide to pull it or not. It hadn't done much damage the first time around. Deacon was a good cop; he knew the gun wouldn't help so he left it holstered.
The Japanese woman knelt and gently stroked the side of Onyx's face and then exchanged a meaningful look with Jared. She stood and moved between the Devil and the rest of us. They stared intently at each other and the fine hairs along my arms and down the back of my neck rose. Magic swirled in the air and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the Hispanic officer crossing her self again and mouthing what I assumed was an Ave Maria or something.
Nothing happened, except for the feeling of magic dancing along my spine. Then the Devil clutched his head and fell to the ground. The woman, too, fell to her knees and then crawled to Onyx's side once more. She touched him gently and then glanced up at me. “Tell him I'm sorry,” she said softly in our native tongue and then disappeared.
“What the hell?” Deacon's voice broke through to my stunned brain and then I felt him grab me and shake me gently. “Riley, tell me what the hell just happened here, or by God, I'll put you in lock-up and melt down the key!” He gave me another shake, firm enough that my teeth clicked together. I shoved him away from me, perhaps a touch too forcefully, and glared at him. “What makes you think I understand any of this any better than you do?” I shouted at him.
“Uh, could we not do this right now, Riley?” Jared asked and knelt next to Onyx, who looked like a house-fire victim – his skin was completely blackened and flaking away in spots. “We need to get him to a hospital or something.” He looked up at me and then at Deacon.
Deacon nodded and then began organising the crowd of officers before joining Jared at Onyx's side. “I'll call an ambulance, okay?” Deacon asked Jared. Jared shrugged and Deacon moved off, speaking urgently into a radio a uniformed officer handed to him.
Jared glanced up at me again. His eyes were huge, drowning pools of panic. Onyx was probably already beginning to heal and there would be no no medical explanations for the authorities. “What are we gonna do, Riley?” the younger vampire asked in a hushed whisper.
“Damned if I know, Jared,” I responded. “Too much happened here today. I don't think we can keep up the ruse anymore. I think we've just inadvertently outed the preternaturals.” Jared gasped and I took a deep breath, marshaling my thoughts and began mentally composing a cover story.
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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 12:00:31 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
A few minutes later, the ambulance that Deacon had summoned to the scene rolled up. The paramedics quickly and efficiently loaded Onyx onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. I convinced them to let Jared and I ride with the Elder vampire, so we piled in and sat across from his stretcher. The paramedic in the back with us hovered about, putting ointments on Onyx and taking various readings from the heart monitor and blood oxygen machines. He looked somewhat confused at the results he was getting. I sighed deeply; there was yet another nail in the coffin of anonymity for the world of supernatural creatures.
The ride to the hospital took about fifteen minutes and on the way, Jared explained to me who the Japanese woman was. Apparently, he and Onyx had just finished – not two days before – saving the entire world from a mad wizard who was hell-bent on a path of destruction. I wanted to disbelieve Jared's tale. I wanted to call bullsh*t on the whole thing, but I knew better. Hell, my closest friends were either Lycanthropes like myself or vampires. Who was to say that there couldn't be wizards and magic in the world as well?
By the time we arrived, Onyx had healed enough to be able to move limbs feebly. The damage to his body was bad enough that it was pretty obvious he'd need a fair amount of blood to recover fully. He even managed to speak faintly, thanking Jared and I for staying with him and for our help back at the station.
Once inside, Onyx was rushed into the Intensive Care Unit immediately. He still looked like a charred corpse, which, in fact, he was. The ICU staff could hardly believe he was alive enough to move. I made sure that Jared and I could stay with him until he was wheeled into surgery. As soon as we were alone for a few moments, he beckoned Jared over. He leaned down, and with great effort, Onyx managed to croak the word blood. “You got it, buddy,” Jared replied immediately, “We’ll make sure they give you some.” Onyx nodded weakly and relaxed. Closing his eyes, a look of intense concentration overtook his face and the heart monitor began regular, rhythmic beeping. That, coupled with regular breathing should be enough to fool the doctors into thinking he was alive.
As Jared stayed with Onyx, I went to the nurse's station to see who Onyx's attending doctor would be. It seemed we were finally in for a little stroke of luck. I was beyond pleased to find Onyx's doctor would be Michael Stone, a were-leopard with whom I was on very friendly terms. Michael would help keep Onyx's identity secret and would help answer the medical questions that I couldn't address.
Some three hours after Onyx was first wheeled in from the ambulance bay, he was resting in a private room – something else Michael had helped arrange for us. He'd been hooked up to more machines and even had a pair of blood bags on an IV. Jared had donated about a pint of his own blood; vampire blood was much more potent than either human or animal blood and would help Onyx heal even more quickly than before. I could have donated some of my own, but Jared and I decided that it far more important to keep our cover than have Onyx completely healed and up and around in about an hour. Lycan blood was like cocaine to vampires – it gave them even more energy than they normally had.
Onyx's eyes opened and I went to stand at his side. “How are you feeling?” I asked tentatively. He gave me a thumb's up, which drew a surprised chuckle from me. “I feel better than I look,” he replied, his voice little more than a hoarse whisper that made me wince.
Jared went to Onyx's other side and we exchanged hesitant glances. “Uh, Onyx?” Jared began tentatively. “There's a bunch of reporters waiting around outside. A lot of important people saw you chuck that huge piece of the police station at the floating, glowing guy. So far, Dr Stone has managed to keep them out, but it eventually we're gonna have to answer some questions.”
At that moment, Michael came into the room and clicked on the TV. It was a breaking news report with a crew live at the crater where the police station had been. In the top right corner of the screen were two photos – mine and Jared's booking photo – and an artist's rendition of Onyx's face. Sh*t. I rounded on Onyx, eager and flush with more adrenaline. “We need to squash this story as soon as we can,” I explained quickly. “Hire me as your attorney and I’ll get started on your story. I’ll take a buck as a retainer.”
He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “No,” he said in his ruined voice. “There’s so much publicity already that if you tried to cover it up, it would only ruin your reputation, and probably your career. Let me handle it on my own.”
“Look, I went to school for this,” I countered. “This is my area of expertise. I’ll arrange a press conference with the local media and answer questions that way. Unless you want people knowing that you’re a three-thousand year old vampire, this is the best way for us to do things.” I looked over at Jared and Michael, then back to Onyx. “I don’t know about them, but I’m not ready to reveal the fact that I get furry once a month.”
“I think,” Onyx said slowly, thoughtfully, “that maybe I am ready.” His voice was getting stronger as the blood flowed through him; one could see him healing, like a flower blooming on time-lapse film. “You’ve been a Lycanthrope for how long now?”
“Almost eight years.”
“And Jared’s been a vampire for about one hundred years. You’ve both had to hide who you are since it happened. I bet there’s been a lot of times when you want to tell someone else about it. I’m sure you have told a few, trustworthy people about it. It’s been hard keeping it secret, hasn’t it? Well, I’ve been doing it since before the rise of the Greek Empire. I’m tired of it. I think people today are ready for the knowledge that others walk among them.”
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Post by Riley Lo on Jun 21, 2012 12:01:05 GMT -5
October 6, 2006...
I looked over at Jared and Michael. They both looked like someone had hit them in the face with a shovel. “See?” she said, pointing. “I don’t think any of us are ready for villagers to storm the castle with their pitch forks and torches. But... If you are set on destroying your life and setting monster hunters after you, then at least let me help you arrange a press conference.”
Onyx gave me a tiny smirk. He was learning first hand just how stubborn I could be. “You’re welcome to set up the press conference,” he said. “But I’m not worried about monster hunters; I’ve been handling them for thousands of years.”
Riley nodded reluctantly. “Okay. Do you want to be there,” I said, turning back to Jared and Michael, “or would you rather stay out of it?”
“Um,” Jared said intelligently. “Er...I guess I should be there. You guys are my friends.” Michael nodded slowly, the stunned look still on his face.
“There’s no ‘you guys’ in this,” I said. “I’m not outing myself; this is all Onyx's show. I just want to be there to protect his legal rights.”
“He’s dead, Riley,” Michael protested. “He doesn’t have any legal rights.”
“Well, don’t you think that needs to change?” I said, an idea forming in my head as I talked. I seized it and ran with it, writing a speech as I began to pace next to Onyx's bed. “I mean, he’s a contributing member of society, despite his non-living status. And you, mister bar owner, don’t you pay taxes? Wouldn’t you like to be able to stop faking your death every seventy-five years or so and taking someone else’s identity?” Jared nodded slowly. I pointed at Michael. “And you, Doctor Man? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to tell your wife where you go every 28 days?” Michael, too, nodded.
Onyx laughed as hard as he could in his present state. “I think,” he gasped, “that we’ve just created the first inhuman rights activist.”
“Damn straight,” I shot back. “I know people in the legislature. If you’re going to out yourself, you might as well do it in big way. When are you going to be up and around, Onyx? I need to start setting things up.”
“I’ll be fine by tomorrow,” he replied.
“Great. Michael, show me to the PR director's office?” We headed out, leaving the two vampires together alone in the room behind us. Michael left me at the PR director's door, giving me a quick kiss before he started his rounds.
An hour or so later, the press conference was set up and I returned to Onyx's room. The two vampires were engaged in a rather serious-looking discussion and I hesitated on the threshold to the room. “Sorry,” I said. “Did I interrupt something?” They both shook their heads and I moved over to the edge of Onyx's bed again. “So, if you’re sure you’re going to feel up to it, the press conference is set up for two o’clock tomorrow afternoon. You won’t have to field any questions if you don’t want to. I’ll be more than happy to speak on your behalf,” I said with a little chuckle.
He nodded. “Tomorrow at two will be fine. I think I’ll answer some questions I’m sure a lot of people will be very curious about my life, and we don’t have the time to brief you on three millennium of existence.” He gave her a quick grin.
The amount of time that he'd spent on the face of the Earth, the sheer history that he'd lived through first hand suddenly hit me. “Wow,” I breathed. “Three thousand years. One day I’m going to have to sit you down and cross-examine you. Oh, the things and places and people you've seen! Was there really a Christ?”
He laughed, “Yes.” I raised an eyebrow in a silent ‘please continue.’ “Sometime soon,” he promised, “I’ll spend a day or two with you and answer any questions you want to ask. But not today.”
I grinned. “Cool. I’ll take you up on that. Now, if you guys don't mind, I'm bushed. I'm gonna head home, write a speech, take a long, hot bath, and then try to sleep. I'll see you in the morning.”
I looked at Jared, wondering how he was handling all of this. He still looked stunned, but he gave Onyx and I a game smile. “Damn, Onyx,” he said. “I sure didn’t expect this. I never even thought there’d be a day when a vampire would come forward and announce his existence to the mortals. Do you really think it’s a good idea?”
“I do,” Onyx replied immediately. “You’ve seen how the world has been changing in the last few decades. As soon as it becomes apparent that there are enough of us to make a noticeable fraction of the population, our difference from the humans will become no more than the difference between men and women, or blacks and whites. Today’s society is so concerned with upholding the rights of the individual, so careful to make sure no one is discriminated against based on their race or beliefs that the monster hunters will quickly find themselves in the minority. Within ten years, I predict that vampires and Lycanthropes will have the same ‘human’ rights as any other citizen.”
I grinned. “That's perfect. Don't forget a word of that. That'll make great copy in the papers and will help sway public opinion, too.” The vampires laughed and shook their heads. I excused myself and drove home. I wasn't honestly sure how I'd ever be able to sleep that night. Tomorrow afternoon, at 2:00, the entire world would change...and I'd be riding the cusp of that wave.
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