Ch.8
I can never forget you...
‘You’re still in my heart and controlling my mind...’
‘Stay with me,
Don’t let me go,
‘Cause I can’t live without you.
Just stay with me,
And hold me close...
Because I’ve built my world around you.
And I don’t want to know,
What it’s like without you.
So stay with me,
Just stay with me...’
“Are you sure?”
Vicki screwed her face up as she jotted down the information her friend and confidant in everything medical - Dr. Mohadevan was giving her. Rising early after a restless night trying to sleep, you know the natural occurrence that happened when you lie down and close your eyes, although in Vicki’s case - it kept avoiding her. Now sitting with her third cup of coffee and rubbing grit out of her eyes, yawning was the only distraction as she listened intently to the forensic report on Eric McMillan’s untimely death. Rajani’s deep cultural voice spoke clearly on the other end of the phone as she confirmed positively how Eric died, “evisceration through the left kidney, straight through the heart and out via the chest cavity, very violent if you ask me. It’s as if something burrowed right through him and then passed out the other side - fascinating actually!”
Vicki looked at the cream donut sitting yet to be touched. Its pink icing calling to her; while the bile in her throat, called for the toilet. Pushing it to the other side of her desk, pulling a face and hoping her coffee was not about to launch itself out of her stomach, she continued on making notes and trusting Mohadevan’s judgement that it was indeed fascinating, “Was anything left behind in the wounds, any tell tale signs of what caused it?”
Dr. Mohadevan made a sound with her mouth as she perused over her own notes, making sure there was nothing she’d missed, “his bloods and tox -screen came back, surprisingly they both were clean. Absolutely no drug usage! Which in this day and age is a miracle in itself?”
Vicki nodded - amen to that. Not many young people these days said no to drugs, particularly the ones that tended to hang out in bars that advertised it so openly, “Ah so no drugs, just a case of in the wrong place at the wrong time eh?”
Rajani agreed that’s exactly how it looked, “I was hoping you would call in and see me? It seems you are keeping your distance these days, seems you are avoiding someone no?”
Vicki grimaced, it wasn’t her friends fault she was keeping a low profile. It was just complicated right now, male complicated, “AH, no sorry Rajani...I’ve had a ton of things to do, you know cases to solved and well, y’know?” she squeezed her eyes shut and hoped that her lying skills had improved, unfortunately it seemed they hadn’t paid off, “O-Okay, if you insist. Shall I tell Detective Celluci you were asking about him?”
Coffee squirted from Vicki’s mouth as she swiped with her free hand and looked dismayed at her now wet notes, “NO, no, that’s fine...I’ll tell him myself when I get th-the chance thanks. Don’t tell me please Rajani...just let me?”
The wizened Doctor knew there was something odd in Vicki’s behaviour, she also knew there was a history with Detective Celluci, a very long and twisted one but who was she to get in the way of a messy relationship? She had her own life to worry about!
“Well, I must be getting back, the dead don’t autopsy themselves. Tell Mr. Fitzroy I was asking for him!”
The slight hiccup of breath from the other end of the call signalled to Mohadevan that there was another strange tale to tell.
Ending the phone call was torturous, she knew at some stage she’d have to call into the forensics’ department and speak to Rajani in person - to explain her ‘difficult’ situation. But right now, she had a killer to catch, or at least something that was going around killing young healthy males. The thought of young and healthy and male brought a dark cloud over the morning’s proceedings, as she clenched her teeth to stop her from sending out a string of curses that would make the plant especially brought in by Coreen wilt.
Interesting fact number one; Henry did not go to Vancouver.
Interesting fact number two; he was still living in the same apartment, same address, and funnily enough - same location.
Interesting fact number three; he had lied to her, he had made her believe he was leaving, walking out of her life for good!
All this was found out by simply making a few phone calls to the owners of the building, and of course putting on her best charm for the very friendly, very informative and very talkative Greg - the doorman and part time gossip guy.
Fury had lit a path down deep into her gut. Naturally the first thing a person did when confronted with the truth, was to hunt the person down and have it out with them. Of course, Henry being dead...proved some problems that suggested waiting until sunset to deal with them...and Vicki was in the mood for a hell of a lot of dealing. Right now however, she needed to trace the whereabouts of Irene Clark, the mysterious woman last seen slinking through the crowd and towards the back exit of the night club.
~~~~
“How long’s she been here?”
The plastic sheet was pulled away from the face of the body found behind the dumpster of The Royal Court. Eyes staring and glazed looked blankly in the direction of the sky. Clothes still worn from the night before, suggested she had lain here all night. A light-bulb from a flash went off, momentarily blinding the young Homicide Detective, as she shielded her eyes with her latex gloved hand before giving the young pathologist an angry unsympathetic glare,
“I would say around eight hours, judging by the decomp?”
Detective Francesca Hoy nodded gravely as she pulled the sheet down further, revealing more of the torso of the unfortunate victim, “What the hell?”
A large grotesque wound covered the entire upper area of the chest, a wound so big she could fit her own gloved hand into it, “Jesus what the hell did this?” The just finished straight out of medical school medical examiner by the name of Ryan, moved closer to study, blinking several times before shaking his head, “Haven’t got a clue, but we got another one of these in just the same downtown. Came in last night, same exit wound! Betcha any money we turn her over and she has a wound just as big on her back?”
Detective Hoy looked down at the way the victim was lying and attempted to move her onto her side without disturbing any evidence, not to mention the dried blood and goo all over the modestly expensive dress, “I don’t doubt you for a moment. So it seems we have a serial killer?” Ryan just shrugged his shoulders as he got the gurney ready for the dead woman’s journey to the morgue, “Could be, but what do I know, I’m just the messenger here to pick up Jane Doe and take her back to the lab.”
Detective Hoy located the purse that the woman had been carrying, pulling out a parking stub along with a tube of lipstick and some moist tissues. Car keys and finally she struck lucky - her driver’s licence, “Say’s here her name is Irene Clark!”
Looking down at the unfortunate semi pretty face of the victim, who could have picked a better place to die than behind a dumpster, “Well Miss Irene Clark, we've finally have a name for you. All we need to know now is why you died?”
~~~
Vicki paced the hallway outside Henry’s apartment, quelling nerves or anger; she wasn’t too sure which one aggravated her stomach the more? Finally seeing this as senseless and coming to the conclusion anger was much more healthier for her and nervousness, the approached the door to knock it, only to find it opened by Henry with a wry amused look on his face, “I was beginning to think you would bail, seeing as you’ve been pacing for around ten minutes now?”
The shock at seeing him this close and in the flesh so to speak, considering not too long ago she had exited his den, his domain with the notion of never being able to return again had rendered Vicki speechless for about a minute. A record given her case, “Well, I was toying with the idea of knocking the door down and shouting surprise, seeing as you’re not meant to be in Toronto! It was Vancouver you said you were moving too?” The hint of cynicism in Vicki’s voice dealt the blow it was meant to, as Henry closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly, giving her that one...for now, “well now that you’re here it would only be polite to let you in,” he moved to the side giving her access to his home. Taking a deep breath and keeping all that pent up anger reigned deep inside, Vicki moved swiftly past him, missing the grin that spread across his face as he closed the door behind her.
Nothing had changed, no boxes sat indicating that he had just moved back to Toronto - it was as if he hadn’t left at all,
“SO, tell me Henry, when did ya get back?”
Straight to the point, but then again he didn’t expect anything less from Vicki. Her nose always picked up the finest of details, a detectives nose, “I won’t bother you with making up a story so that you can pick it apart...I didn’t leave Vicki.”
Ah that got her going as she spun around on her heel, eyes blazing the fire he had missed for four months, “SO YOU LIED TO ME! Why Henry, why?” the pain was painted harshly on her face, it echoed in her voice that sounded broken and confused. Taking a measured distance that separated the both of them, Henry clasped and unclasped his hands in an attempt to explain his reasons, “I won’t lie that it was the hardest decision I have ever made. As a human, feelings of another would have destroyed me. As a Vampire, the need to protect my identity, my territory far outweighed anything my conscience, my soul was telling me.” He gave them both a little space, space enough for him to control the urge to do something incredibly foolish, “What you said that night had made a lot of sense, I was still punishing you for tainting yourself with my blood, for risking your life for mine. I was too wrapped up in my own anger and confusion that I didn’t see that what you really did...what you chose to do, was not out of pity...but out of something more.”
Vicki nodded faintly, hardly caring to breath from finally getting a confession out of Henry Fitzroy - Vampire and unfeeling jerk, “I understand now your need to keep Coreen alive, even though at the time, her life was worth far less that the souls that would be destroyed by Asteroth rising.” He looked at her finally, his shoulders held back, his head held high. It was times like this to Vicki, he was the rightful Prince to King Henry, “I make no apologies for trying to protect you Vicki, you need to understand what I am and why I choose one path while you always choose the other!”
Biting her lip, she inched forward to face him before replying, “I had no choice Henry. I wouldn’t have let Coreen die anymore than I would’ve let you die. But you hurt me beyond anything that anyone has ever done. You made me believe, you made me understand all of this, and then you took it all away! Why did you stay?”
He looked deep into her eyes. Eyes that flashed anger, happiness, hurt, betrayal, and above all insecurity,
“Because some things are worth staying and fighting for!”
‘You’re still in my heart and controlling my mind...’
‘Stay with me,
Don’t let me go,
‘Cause I can’t live without you.
Just stay with me,
And hold me close...
Because I’ve built my world around you.
And I don’t want to know,
What it’s like without you.
So stay with me,
Just stay with me...’
“Are you sure?”
Vicki screwed her face up as she jotted down the information her friend and confidant in everything medical - Dr. Mohadevan was giving her. Rising early after a restless night trying to sleep, you know the natural occurrence that happened when you lie down and close your eyes, although in Vicki’s case - it kept avoiding her. Now sitting with her third cup of coffee and rubbing grit out of her eyes, yawning was the only distraction as she listened intently to the forensic report on Eric McMillan’s untimely death. Rajani’s deep cultural voice spoke clearly on the other end of the phone as she confirmed positively how Eric died, “evisceration through the left kidney, straight through the heart and out via the chest cavity, very violent if you ask me. It’s as if something burrowed right through him and then passed out the other side - fascinating actually!”
Vicki looked at the cream donut sitting yet to be touched. Its pink icing calling to her; while the bile in her throat, called for the toilet. Pushing it to the other side of her desk, pulling a face and hoping her coffee was not about to launch itself out of her stomach, she continued on making notes and trusting Mohadevan’s judgement that it was indeed fascinating, “Was anything left behind in the wounds, any tell tale signs of what caused it?”
Dr. Mohadevan made a sound with her mouth as she perused over her own notes, making sure there was nothing she’d missed, “his bloods and tox -screen came back, surprisingly they both were clean. Absolutely no drug usage! Which in this day and age is a miracle in itself?”
Vicki nodded - amen to that. Not many young people these days said no to drugs, particularly the ones that tended to hang out in bars that advertised it so openly, “Ah so no drugs, just a case of in the wrong place at the wrong time eh?”
Rajani agreed that’s exactly how it looked, “I was hoping you would call in and see me? It seems you are keeping your distance these days, seems you are avoiding someone no?”
Vicki grimaced, it wasn’t her friends fault she was keeping a low profile. It was just complicated right now, male complicated, “AH, no sorry Rajani...I’ve had a ton of things to do, you know cases to solved and well, y’know?” she squeezed her eyes shut and hoped that her lying skills had improved, unfortunately it seemed they hadn’t paid off, “O-Okay, if you insist. Shall I tell Detective Celluci you were asking about him?”
Coffee squirted from Vicki’s mouth as she swiped with her free hand and looked dismayed at her now wet notes, “NO, no, that’s fine...I’ll tell him myself when I get th-the chance thanks. Don’t tell me please Rajani...just let me?”
The wizened Doctor knew there was something odd in Vicki’s behaviour, she also knew there was a history with Detective Celluci, a very long and twisted one but who was she to get in the way of a messy relationship? She had her own life to worry about!
“Well, I must be getting back, the dead don’t autopsy themselves. Tell Mr. Fitzroy I was asking for him!”
The slight hiccup of breath from the other end of the call signalled to Mohadevan that there was another strange tale to tell.
Ending the phone call was torturous, she knew at some stage she’d have to call into the forensics’ department and speak to Rajani in person - to explain her ‘difficult’ situation. But right now, she had a killer to catch, or at least something that was going around killing young healthy males. The thought of young and healthy and male brought a dark cloud over the morning’s proceedings, as she clenched her teeth to stop her from sending out a string of curses that would make the plant especially brought in by Coreen wilt.
Interesting fact number one; Henry did not go to Vancouver.
Interesting fact number two; he was still living in the same apartment, same address, and funnily enough - same location.
Interesting fact number three; he had lied to her, he had made her believe he was leaving, walking out of her life for good!
All this was found out by simply making a few phone calls to the owners of the building, and of course putting on her best charm for the very friendly, very informative and very talkative Greg - the doorman and part time gossip guy.
Fury had lit a path down deep into her gut. Naturally the first thing a person did when confronted with the truth, was to hunt the person down and have it out with them. Of course, Henry being dead...proved some problems that suggested waiting until sunset to deal with them...and Vicki was in the mood for a hell of a lot of dealing. Right now however, she needed to trace the whereabouts of Irene Clark, the mysterious woman last seen slinking through the crowd and towards the back exit of the night club.
~~~~
“How long’s she been here?”
The plastic sheet was pulled away from the face of the body found behind the dumpster of The Royal Court. Eyes staring and glazed looked blankly in the direction of the sky. Clothes still worn from the night before, suggested she had lain here all night. A light-bulb from a flash went off, momentarily blinding the young Homicide Detective, as she shielded her eyes with her latex gloved hand before giving the young pathologist an angry unsympathetic glare,
“I would say around eight hours, judging by the decomp?”
Detective Francesca Hoy nodded gravely as she pulled the sheet down further, revealing more of the torso of the unfortunate victim, “What the hell?”
A large grotesque wound covered the entire upper area of the chest, a wound so big she could fit her own gloved hand into it, “Jesus what the hell did this?” The just finished straight out of medical school medical examiner by the name of Ryan, moved closer to study, blinking several times before shaking his head, “Haven’t got a clue, but we got another one of these in just the same downtown. Came in last night, same exit wound! Betcha any money we turn her over and she has a wound just as big on her back?”
Detective Hoy looked down at the way the victim was lying and attempted to move her onto her side without disturbing any evidence, not to mention the dried blood and goo all over the modestly expensive dress, “I don’t doubt you for a moment. So it seems we have a serial killer?” Ryan just shrugged his shoulders as he got the gurney ready for the dead woman’s journey to the morgue, “Could be, but what do I know, I’m just the messenger here to pick up Jane Doe and take her back to the lab.”
Detective Hoy located the purse that the woman had been carrying, pulling out a parking stub along with a tube of lipstick and some moist tissues. Car keys and finally she struck lucky - her driver’s licence, “Say’s here her name is Irene Clark!”
Looking down at the unfortunate semi pretty face of the victim, who could have picked a better place to die than behind a dumpster, “Well Miss Irene Clark, we've finally have a name for you. All we need to know now is why you died?”
~~~
Vicki paced the hallway outside Henry’s apartment, quelling nerves or anger; she wasn’t too sure which one aggravated her stomach the more? Finally seeing this as senseless and coming to the conclusion anger was much more healthier for her and nervousness, the approached the door to knock it, only to find it opened by Henry with a wry amused look on his face, “I was beginning to think you would bail, seeing as you’ve been pacing for around ten minutes now?”
The shock at seeing him this close and in the flesh so to speak, considering not too long ago she had exited his den, his domain with the notion of never being able to return again had rendered Vicki speechless for about a minute. A record given her case, “Well, I was toying with the idea of knocking the door down and shouting surprise, seeing as you’re not meant to be in Toronto! It was Vancouver you said you were moving too?” The hint of cynicism in Vicki’s voice dealt the blow it was meant to, as Henry closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly, giving her that one...for now, “well now that you’re here it would only be polite to let you in,” he moved to the side giving her access to his home. Taking a deep breath and keeping all that pent up anger reigned deep inside, Vicki moved swiftly past him, missing the grin that spread across his face as he closed the door behind her.
Nothing had changed, no boxes sat indicating that he had just moved back to Toronto - it was as if he hadn’t left at all,
“SO, tell me Henry, when did ya get back?”
Straight to the point, but then again he didn’t expect anything less from Vicki. Her nose always picked up the finest of details, a detectives nose, “I won’t bother you with making up a story so that you can pick it apart...I didn’t leave Vicki.”
Ah that got her going as she spun around on her heel, eyes blazing the fire he had missed for four months, “SO YOU LIED TO ME! Why Henry, why?” the pain was painted harshly on her face, it echoed in her voice that sounded broken and confused. Taking a measured distance that separated the both of them, Henry clasped and unclasped his hands in an attempt to explain his reasons, “I won’t lie that it was the hardest decision I have ever made. As a human, feelings of another would have destroyed me. As a Vampire, the need to protect my identity, my territory far outweighed anything my conscience, my soul was telling me.” He gave them both a little space, space enough for him to control the urge to do something incredibly foolish, “What you said that night had made a lot of sense, I was still punishing you for tainting yourself with my blood, for risking your life for mine. I was too wrapped up in my own anger and confusion that I didn’t see that what you really did...what you chose to do, was not out of pity...but out of something more.”
Vicki nodded faintly, hardly caring to breath from finally getting a confession out of Henry Fitzroy - Vampire and unfeeling jerk, “I understand now your need to keep Coreen alive, even though at the time, her life was worth far less that the souls that would be destroyed by Asteroth rising.” He looked at her finally, his shoulders held back, his head held high. It was times like this to Vicki, he was the rightful Prince to King Henry, “I make no apologies for trying to protect you Vicki, you need to understand what I am and why I choose one path while you always choose the other!”
Biting her lip, she inched forward to face him before replying, “I had no choice Henry. I wouldn’t have let Coreen die anymore than I would’ve let you die. But you hurt me beyond anything that anyone has ever done. You made me believe, you made me understand all of this, and then you took it all away! Why did you stay?”
He looked deep into her eyes. Eyes that flashed anger, happiness, hurt, betrayal, and above all insecurity,
“Because some things are worth staying and fighting for!”