Luxuria (conclusion)
Disclaimers in part one
Vicki was faced with an unexpected problem. She stood on the lake side of the street, facing toward the warehouse district, unable to see. Not because of the darkness, but because of the beauty of the raindrops. More than drops, they were curtains of shimmering color, more stunning than any northern lights, but draping in a similar way. She was vaguely aware of other shapes in the lights, but the sparkling rain made it hard to see them. Then a lightning flash over the lake, glorious, transcendent and otherworldly almost knocked her to her knees. How-how could she have lived her life unaware of this? And how could she see past it to what she needed to see?
"That's enough!" she yelled into the rain. "I don't care!" Which wasn't really true. Part of her was so completely enthralled by this vision of beauty she only wanted to lose herself in the light.
But that part wasn't the real Vicki Nelson. The real Vicki Nelson was not impressed with things that weren't useful in the Real World. And the two most important people in the real Vicki Nelson's world were out there, somewhere, in danger. She just knew it. Irritably, she refused the siren song of Nirvana and concentrated. After a moment, she began to see the outlines of things in the rain. The chain link fence that cordoned off the industrial yard-she saw where the break in it was, though it was far enough down that she wouldn't have normally seen it even on a bright day with good eyes. This other vision of hers operated on different rules. She collapsed her umbrella and started to jog, the pretty rain sliding down her neck.
She found herself sliding on mud and ice as she hit a grade. She was learning to see through the rain, and ignore the heavenly vision of lightning bolts. Before her she saw shapes of the warehouses on the waterfront, and she slowed. How was she to figure out where to go? The symbol on the map was large; all she knew was a general area.
She headed for the water's edge. If she were signing her name on geography, she reasoned, she'd consider the shoreline to be the edge of the paper.
She was learning fast how to use her funny glowy vision to get around. The rain was still a distraction, but beyond it, most good-sized obstacles had their own holiday lights winking at her. She almost couldn't believe she was jogging, in the dark, without her glasses, but it seemed to be working. If only she knew what she was looking for.
If the warehouses in the area had had any workers earlier, they were now either inside sheltering from the rain, or warm in their homes. She saw no one in the area.
Except, over there. Who was that? Someone else was standing in the rain, alone. Vicki saw a human aura, but with a black stain in it. A black stain? How very promising. Vicki gripped Henry's cross, which had been bouncing on her chest as she jogged, and headed toward the person.
Whoever it was, saw Vicki and fled. Also promising. With a cautious glance at the terrain, since she had to perceive it so differently now, Vicki broke into a run. Her quarry was on a bike, she realized. A child? For a moment she doubted her course, but the writhing black in the person's aura reassured her. Child or not, this was someone she needed to talk to. She ran faster. It would take an experienced mountain biker to make good progress in these conditions on a bike, and Vicki, on foot, closed the distance easily.
"Hey," she yelled through the storm. "I want to talk to you."
The person dropped the bike and started running uphill, toward the road, and Vicki had to run faster, but, with both of them scrambling in the mud, Vicki managed to grab hold of an arm. "Let go of me," cried a girl's voice.
A girl? "Tina? Tina Lemke?"
At the sound of the name, the colors not obscured in her aura by the black stain flashed and brightened. Vicki grabbed the struggling girl in an arm-lock, her face on the ground. "Who are you?" Vicki demanded. "What have you done?"
"You're too late," the girl said. "You can't stop the sacrifice now."
###
Mike had no time to reach his gun. Henry was on him too fast. For a second time he felt the vampire's teeth tearing into his throat, seeking his jugular, demanding, robbing. Not again, he had time to think, before some arcane outside control clamped over his thoughts, like before, eliminating his own consciousness.
But then awareness returned. He tried to struggle, but was immobilized in the vampire's grip. With awareness he felt the pain of Henry's teeth in his neck, the frantic beating of his own heart, the swift draining of his life. But he could think, and that was new. Whatever vampiric control Henry had reflexively hit him with, he had withdrawn it. Henry was fighting, too.
But not winning, he realized, as his arms and legs began to tingle from blood loss. He had to reach his gun. And wounding a demon-possessed vampire wouldn't be sufficient to stop him; he'd have to kill him. A shot to the head, or possibly the heart-Mike found his gun. The demon had won. One of them would be the final sacrifice tonight. It's either Henry or me.
###
Vicki's panic peaked and she shook her captive. "Where are they? What have you done?" She couldn't see the girl's face but she could see the growing cloud of black. The brightness of Henry's cross made an eerie contrast to it, and, on impulse, Vicki took it off and hung it on Tina's neck. The black turned grey, and Tina went limp in Vicki's grasp.
Vicki shook her again. "Talk to me! Where are they?" The colors in the girl's aura froze like a video with a stuck tape. Tina didn't speak. Vicki suspected she couldn't.
"Damn!" Vicki released her, and as she'd half expected, Tina didn’t move, though she did begin to shiver. Vicki pulled her phone from a pocket.
"Coreen, I've found Tina but she's-possessed or something. I can't make her talk. How do I un-possess her?"
"Wha-possessed?" Coreen's tinny voice was broken on the cell connection. "Vicki, you're talking about an exorcism. You're not in any position to do that."
"Well, what do I do with her? You said you felt like you were possessed when Renee got killed. How did you get out of it?"
"I don't know! It was the DVD. I just snapped out of it when it was over. Where are you?"
"Out in the rain. That's about all I know."
"One thing, though," Coreen said. "It wasn't a full possession, because I was still there, underneath. Do you think Tina's still there?"
A particularly loud thunderclap made Vicki wince. "I can see her aura underneath," she said.
"Then maybe it's just a surface thing! Maybe she would snap out of it if you just remove whatever's doing it."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. It's not like you're near a DVD player. Something on her."
"Just a sec." Vicki dropped the phone in the mud and snatched the girl's backpack. She hadn't noticed things on the girl before, other than her bicycle, but now she saw the pack and it almost looked like-the second she had it open, she saw the cloud of black. Her vision couldn't actually resolve what was in there, so she reached in. She found only one item, a device, a machine, a disk player!
Vicki ripped the player open and pulled out the disk so violently that she broke it in half.
Through the thunder and the rain, Vicki heard Tina start to cry.
###
Desperate, Henry struggled, but he couldn't stop. This wasn't Hunger, and the anger was counterfeit, dredged up, based in old grudges he wasn’t nursing tonight. This wasn't him. Still, he drained Mike's blood like he'd been starved for weeks. The evil roared around them, triumphant, almost free, a whirlpool of sewage ready to spew forth. No, no! So much of Henry's life he'd tried to stay clear of the evil so easily accessible to one of his kind, stay clear of the magic which tainted the soul, continue his existence in a manner that allowed him to still hope for salvation, and now he'd be the agent that brought Hell to earth.
He felt Mike move against him, groping for his gun. Henry wouldn't try to stop him. Maybe there was still some hope.
Mike fired the gun four times, something snapped and Henry was abruptly free. Mike became a dead weight in his arms. The triumphant howl of the demon turned furious, echoing against the walls and then fading, as Henry hunkered against the storm and tried to figure out if he'd been shot.
###
Mike opened his eyes, slowly, reluctantly. He was in the same hated room, on his back, with Henry's long coat over him. Henry had a hand pillowing Mike's head and another hand pressing on his chest. Mike's feet were elevated, resting on the small lip of the plywood board as it leaned against the wall. Henry looked down at him with a worried expression.
Mike's neck hurt, distantly, and his other pains also seemed detached. He floated, weak and dazed, but he had to speak. "You. Bit me. Again," he said.
Henry's worried expression shifted through guilt, apology and irritation. It settled on confusion. "You didn't shoot me?"
"Not. The point. Sacrifice," Mike said faintly.
"You shot the TV set?"
"And," Mike said, "the-thing. Did it work?"
"Something did. How could your gun affect a demon?"
"Demon penicillin. She said. Silver bullets."
"You had silver bullets? That might have been useful information to have."
"Tough. Shit."
Henry smiled, but the smile had a strange poignancy to it. Henry's eyes held a fearful, defeated look. He looked exhausted. Though, Mike thought irritably, he should be in the peak of health after stealing all Mike's blood.
"What's wrong?"
Henry looked away. "The demon wanted me to kill you." He looked back, at Mike. "I-Mike, I may have done it. I drank too much."
Mike felt like shit but he was clearly alive. He frowned. "What do you mean?"
Henry nodded toward the hand he held pressed against Mike's chest. "I'm keeping your heart beating. I didn't break our connection. If I had, your heart would have stopped. You don't have enough blood to live."
Mike thought about that. "Blood-comes back." It was still hard for him to speak.
Henry took in a shuddering breath. "I'll do this as long as I can." He glanced at the window, "but it may not be long enough." He almost looked like he was fighting tears. "Celluci, if I've killed you-I'm truly sorry."
"You're sorry?" Mike said, horrified. Silence was heavy in the room. Henry turned his face to where Mike couldn't see it. Damn! Mike didn't want to die. His life 'til now, had he done what he'd meant to? Was he finished? No! Dammit. He wanted kids, he wanted-his thoughts swirled frantically around things he'd never really thought about before.
Damn Henry anyway! He paused his thoughts there. He knew it wasn't Henry's fault. And Henry was keeping him alive, but . . .
"You'll die, too," he said.
Henry nodded and glanced back at him. "You'll have that satisfaction," he said in his old, superior tone.
"Noo. The demon wins."
"I don't think so." Henry shook his head and looked around at their prison. "Something's changed. Some deadline is passed, some spell is broken."
"The door?"
"Not that spell."
"Go figure."
###
Vicki called Coreen to come back and take the hysterical Tina in hand. It turned out Coreen hadn't gone back to the office at all and was only five minutes away.
"I needed you for research," Vicki scolded when Coreen found them.
Coreen draped a raincoat over the shivering, weeping Tina. "Like we had time for me to Google how to do an exorcism," she said.
"What about all the stuff you told me?"
"I was making it up. Couldn't you tell? Come on, Tina, we've got a nice warm car at the top of the hill." She guided the girl ahead of her and looked back over her shoulder. "Go find the guys!"
###
Mike was feeling stronger, but he didn't have the strength to spend on grief over his own likely death, so instead he moved into a place of ironic acceptance. Funny how things turn out.
"So after all that," he said, "we beat the demon and now we wait for death."
Henry gave him an irritated look. Henry was clearly not in an accepting emotional state. Stress and dread were written on the vampire's face in big letters.
"I'm not letting you die," Henry vowed.
"Didn't think you would. Strange denouement, though."
"I've never liked you, Celluci," Henry said, though the insult was weakened by his attempt at a smile.
"Feeling's mutual. Really pissed if you've killed me." Mike tried to lighten his own words, but he wasn't sure it came out right. He found, to his surprise, that he didn't blame Henry and he hoped Henry knew that. "In that whole house full of people-I hope you notice-that jealousy demon went straight for you. Not me."
"I did notice," Henry said with a quizzical look.
"Hah. Just so you know. I'm not the jealous one."
"You're very talkative," Henry said speculatively. "How do you feel?"
"Really, really bad."
"Uh huh." Henry frowned in concentration at his hand on Mike's chest. Mike knew what he was going to try and he found himself willing his heart to beat. He locked gazes with Henry and Henry removed his hand.
Mike flushed and his vision greyed. He opened his mouth to pant. His heart faltered and beat, faltered and beat. Then it caught its familiar rhythm and beat regularly.
In a flurry of movement, Henry hurled himself back from Mike and threw his hands over his face. Then he pulled them down and tipped his head back as if he were suddenly breathing free air. "You. Are going to live," he said.
But Mike wasn’t sure he was going to stay conscious. "Yay," he said through numb lips. "But-you . . ."
"At least I won't have you on my conscience," Henry said, and his huge grin looked genuinely rejoicing. As Mike faded out of consciousness he thought, That's the last time I'll see him. Vampire.
###
Vicki set out as fast as she dared. Between sobs Tina had explained about the room at the top of the Annex and how she'd set the door to lock with her-this part strained Vicki's credulity-her Harry Potter wand.
As creepy as the old building was, it was a relief to be out of the rain. Vicki took the stairs three at a time. On the top floor she put on her glasses so she would have no trouble identifying the heavy metal door, and, there beside it, the black dowel with a silver cap. A magician's wand. Vicki picked it up, broke it, and hurled it across the landing. Extending her baton in one hand, her heart in her throat, she opened the thick door.
Mike lay on the floor, Henry's coat over him, his legs elevated against a wall. Henry sat beside him against the same wall. There was water on the floor. Relief flooded her for Henry, but for Mike-
"What the hell happened here?" she demanded.
Henry smiled at her, his huge happy smile. "Vicki," he said, rising. "What took you so long?"
###
Vicki had spent most of the day dozing in Mike's hospital room while Mike slept off the transfusion he'd been given. After dark, Henry joined them and Vicki and Henry sat in the institutional chairs provided in the room. Mike looked better, despite having various IVs running into his arms.
After giving vent to her feelings in a lengthy tirade about what she'd do if either of them ever vanished on her like that again, Vicki settled in to watch the two men. They'd listened to her with identical patient expressions on their faces, occasionally exchanging knowing glances. It was starting to piss her off.
Henry had attacked Mike and drunk his blood. Again! And rather than be angry at him about it, Mike was actually joking with Henry like they were old war buddies. And Henry kept waxing poetic about how close brushes with death made you appreciate your life all the more. At least that allowed Mike and Vicki to exchange knowing glances about him.
After one of his more flowery speeches, Mike said, "Vicki's right. You should write Hallmark cards."
Henry stood to go, and gathered his coat. Vicki stood to follow him. They'd had little time to really talk the evening before.
Henry paused in the doorway and gave the patient a long-suffering expression. "How many times do I have to tell you, Celluci, they're called Graphic Novels."
Vicki and Mike both laughed, Mike's laughter following them into the hallway. Henry stayed close to her as they strolled through the hospital maze in the direction of the parking garage. But then, he always did stay close to her.
"You know, buster," she said, jabbing him with an elbow. "I walk in on you and Mike with Mike passed out from blood loss, and it doesn't look good. You're just lucky Mike corroborates your story."
She felt him stiffen as he turned his head to look directly at her. At his stricken expression, she said, "Kidding. Only kidding. I was a cop, you know."
Henry shook his head. "Please don't joke, Vicki. Do you know what my greatest fear is?"
She glanced at him, uncomfortable. Were all artists so emotional?
"My greatest fear is that you won't trust me."
"Huh. My greatest fear is that my mom will visit without calling first."
Henry stopped dead, heedless of the busy corridor, turned to her and took her forearms in his hands, turning up her wrists. Vicki fidgeted. Okay, yeah, there were a lot of things she was more scared of than her mom. Geez, he was serious.
"Yeah, I know," she said reclaiming her arms. "You want to know what scares me? I was scared to death I wouldn't find you alive."
At this admission he smiled. "Me too," he said.
"These haven't gone away," she said, indicating her tattoos. "That means you can't . . ."
"I know," he said sadly. He gave her a look that clearly said, "I want a kiss."
No way. Here in the hall? What is this, middle school? But she felt sorry for him. For them both. She took his arm and headed them back into the corridor.
"Well, maybe we could cuddle," she said.
"I'll take what I can get," he replied.
I bet you will, she thought fondly. Vampire.
The end
Vicki was faced with an unexpected problem. She stood on the lake side of the street, facing toward the warehouse district, unable to see. Not because of the darkness, but because of the beauty of the raindrops. More than drops, they were curtains of shimmering color, more stunning than any northern lights, but draping in a similar way. She was vaguely aware of other shapes in the lights, but the sparkling rain made it hard to see them. Then a lightning flash over the lake, glorious, transcendent and otherworldly almost knocked her to her knees. How-how could she have lived her life unaware of this? And how could she see past it to what she needed to see?
"That's enough!" she yelled into the rain. "I don't care!" Which wasn't really true. Part of her was so completely enthralled by this vision of beauty she only wanted to lose herself in the light.
But that part wasn't the real Vicki Nelson. The real Vicki Nelson was not impressed with things that weren't useful in the Real World. And the two most important people in the real Vicki Nelson's world were out there, somewhere, in danger. She just knew it. Irritably, she refused the siren song of Nirvana and concentrated. After a moment, she began to see the outlines of things in the rain. The chain link fence that cordoned off the industrial yard-she saw where the break in it was, though it was far enough down that she wouldn't have normally seen it even on a bright day with good eyes. This other vision of hers operated on different rules. She collapsed her umbrella and started to jog, the pretty rain sliding down her neck.
She found herself sliding on mud and ice as she hit a grade. She was learning to see through the rain, and ignore the heavenly vision of lightning bolts. Before her she saw shapes of the warehouses on the waterfront, and she slowed. How was she to figure out where to go? The symbol on the map was large; all she knew was a general area.
She headed for the water's edge. If she were signing her name on geography, she reasoned, she'd consider the shoreline to be the edge of the paper.
She was learning fast how to use her funny glowy vision to get around. The rain was still a distraction, but beyond it, most good-sized obstacles had their own holiday lights winking at her. She almost couldn't believe she was jogging, in the dark, without her glasses, but it seemed to be working. If only she knew what she was looking for.
If the warehouses in the area had had any workers earlier, they were now either inside sheltering from the rain, or warm in their homes. She saw no one in the area.
Except, over there. Who was that? Someone else was standing in the rain, alone. Vicki saw a human aura, but with a black stain in it. A black stain? How very promising. Vicki gripped Henry's cross, which had been bouncing on her chest as she jogged, and headed toward the person.
Whoever it was, saw Vicki and fled. Also promising. With a cautious glance at the terrain, since she had to perceive it so differently now, Vicki broke into a run. Her quarry was on a bike, she realized. A child? For a moment she doubted her course, but the writhing black in the person's aura reassured her. Child or not, this was someone she needed to talk to. She ran faster. It would take an experienced mountain biker to make good progress in these conditions on a bike, and Vicki, on foot, closed the distance easily.
"Hey," she yelled through the storm. "I want to talk to you."
The person dropped the bike and started running uphill, toward the road, and Vicki had to run faster, but, with both of them scrambling in the mud, Vicki managed to grab hold of an arm. "Let go of me," cried a girl's voice.
A girl? "Tina? Tina Lemke?"
At the sound of the name, the colors not obscured in her aura by the black stain flashed and brightened. Vicki grabbed the struggling girl in an arm-lock, her face on the ground. "Who are you?" Vicki demanded. "What have you done?"
"You're too late," the girl said. "You can't stop the sacrifice now."
###
Mike had no time to reach his gun. Henry was on him too fast. For a second time he felt the vampire's teeth tearing into his throat, seeking his jugular, demanding, robbing. Not again, he had time to think, before some arcane outside control clamped over his thoughts, like before, eliminating his own consciousness.
But then awareness returned. He tried to struggle, but was immobilized in the vampire's grip. With awareness he felt the pain of Henry's teeth in his neck, the frantic beating of his own heart, the swift draining of his life. But he could think, and that was new. Whatever vampiric control Henry had reflexively hit him with, he had withdrawn it. Henry was fighting, too.
But not winning, he realized, as his arms and legs began to tingle from blood loss. He had to reach his gun. And wounding a demon-possessed vampire wouldn't be sufficient to stop him; he'd have to kill him. A shot to the head, or possibly the heart-Mike found his gun. The demon had won. One of them would be the final sacrifice tonight. It's either Henry or me.
###
Vicki's panic peaked and she shook her captive. "Where are they? What have you done?" She couldn't see the girl's face but she could see the growing cloud of black. The brightness of Henry's cross made an eerie contrast to it, and, on impulse, Vicki took it off and hung it on Tina's neck. The black turned grey, and Tina went limp in Vicki's grasp.
Vicki shook her again. "Talk to me! Where are they?" The colors in the girl's aura froze like a video with a stuck tape. Tina didn't speak. Vicki suspected she couldn't.
"Damn!" Vicki released her, and as she'd half expected, Tina didn’t move, though she did begin to shiver. Vicki pulled her phone from a pocket.
"Coreen, I've found Tina but she's-possessed or something. I can't make her talk. How do I un-possess her?"
"Wha-possessed?" Coreen's tinny voice was broken on the cell connection. "Vicki, you're talking about an exorcism. You're not in any position to do that."
"Well, what do I do with her? You said you felt like you were possessed when Renee got killed. How did you get out of it?"
"I don't know! It was the DVD. I just snapped out of it when it was over. Where are you?"
"Out in the rain. That's about all I know."
"One thing, though," Coreen said. "It wasn't a full possession, because I was still there, underneath. Do you think Tina's still there?"
A particularly loud thunderclap made Vicki wince. "I can see her aura underneath," she said.
"Then maybe it's just a surface thing! Maybe she would snap out of it if you just remove whatever's doing it."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. It's not like you're near a DVD player. Something on her."
"Just a sec." Vicki dropped the phone in the mud and snatched the girl's backpack. She hadn't noticed things on the girl before, other than her bicycle, but now she saw the pack and it almost looked like-the second she had it open, she saw the cloud of black. Her vision couldn't actually resolve what was in there, so she reached in. She found only one item, a device, a machine, a disk player!
Vicki ripped the player open and pulled out the disk so violently that she broke it in half.
Through the thunder and the rain, Vicki heard Tina start to cry.
###
Desperate, Henry struggled, but he couldn't stop. This wasn't Hunger, and the anger was counterfeit, dredged up, based in old grudges he wasn’t nursing tonight. This wasn't him. Still, he drained Mike's blood like he'd been starved for weeks. The evil roared around them, triumphant, almost free, a whirlpool of sewage ready to spew forth. No, no! So much of Henry's life he'd tried to stay clear of the evil so easily accessible to one of his kind, stay clear of the magic which tainted the soul, continue his existence in a manner that allowed him to still hope for salvation, and now he'd be the agent that brought Hell to earth.
He felt Mike move against him, groping for his gun. Henry wouldn't try to stop him. Maybe there was still some hope.
Mike fired the gun four times, something snapped and Henry was abruptly free. Mike became a dead weight in his arms. The triumphant howl of the demon turned furious, echoing against the walls and then fading, as Henry hunkered against the storm and tried to figure out if he'd been shot.
###
Mike opened his eyes, slowly, reluctantly. He was in the same hated room, on his back, with Henry's long coat over him. Henry had a hand pillowing Mike's head and another hand pressing on his chest. Mike's feet were elevated, resting on the small lip of the plywood board as it leaned against the wall. Henry looked down at him with a worried expression.
Mike's neck hurt, distantly, and his other pains also seemed detached. He floated, weak and dazed, but he had to speak. "You. Bit me. Again," he said.
Henry's worried expression shifted through guilt, apology and irritation. It settled on confusion. "You didn't shoot me?"
"Not. The point. Sacrifice," Mike said faintly.
"You shot the TV set?"
"And," Mike said, "the-thing. Did it work?"
"Something did. How could your gun affect a demon?"
"Demon penicillin. She said. Silver bullets."
"You had silver bullets? That might have been useful information to have."
"Tough. Shit."
Henry smiled, but the smile had a strange poignancy to it. Henry's eyes held a fearful, defeated look. He looked exhausted. Though, Mike thought irritably, he should be in the peak of health after stealing all Mike's blood.
"What's wrong?"
Henry looked away. "The demon wanted me to kill you." He looked back, at Mike. "I-Mike, I may have done it. I drank too much."
Mike felt like shit but he was clearly alive. He frowned. "What do you mean?"
Henry nodded toward the hand he held pressed against Mike's chest. "I'm keeping your heart beating. I didn't break our connection. If I had, your heart would have stopped. You don't have enough blood to live."
Mike thought about that. "Blood-comes back." It was still hard for him to speak.
Henry took in a shuddering breath. "I'll do this as long as I can." He glanced at the window, "but it may not be long enough." He almost looked like he was fighting tears. "Celluci, if I've killed you-I'm truly sorry."
"You're sorry?" Mike said, horrified. Silence was heavy in the room. Henry turned his face to where Mike couldn't see it. Damn! Mike didn't want to die. His life 'til now, had he done what he'd meant to? Was he finished? No! Dammit. He wanted kids, he wanted-his thoughts swirled frantically around things he'd never really thought about before.
Damn Henry anyway! He paused his thoughts there. He knew it wasn't Henry's fault. And Henry was keeping him alive, but . . .
"You'll die, too," he said.
Henry nodded and glanced back at him. "You'll have that satisfaction," he said in his old, superior tone.
"Noo. The demon wins."
"I don't think so." Henry shook his head and looked around at their prison. "Something's changed. Some deadline is passed, some spell is broken."
"The door?"
"Not that spell."
"Go figure."
###
Vicki called Coreen to come back and take the hysterical Tina in hand. It turned out Coreen hadn't gone back to the office at all and was only five minutes away.
"I needed you for research," Vicki scolded when Coreen found them.
Coreen draped a raincoat over the shivering, weeping Tina. "Like we had time for me to Google how to do an exorcism," she said.
"What about all the stuff you told me?"
"I was making it up. Couldn't you tell? Come on, Tina, we've got a nice warm car at the top of the hill." She guided the girl ahead of her and looked back over her shoulder. "Go find the guys!"
###
Mike was feeling stronger, but he didn't have the strength to spend on grief over his own likely death, so instead he moved into a place of ironic acceptance. Funny how things turn out.
"So after all that," he said, "we beat the demon and now we wait for death."
Henry gave him an irritated look. Henry was clearly not in an accepting emotional state. Stress and dread were written on the vampire's face in big letters.
"I'm not letting you die," Henry vowed.
"Didn't think you would. Strange denouement, though."
"I've never liked you, Celluci," Henry said, though the insult was weakened by his attempt at a smile.
"Feeling's mutual. Really pissed if you've killed me." Mike tried to lighten his own words, but he wasn't sure it came out right. He found, to his surprise, that he didn't blame Henry and he hoped Henry knew that. "In that whole house full of people-I hope you notice-that jealousy demon went straight for you. Not me."
"I did notice," Henry said with a quizzical look.
"Hah. Just so you know. I'm not the jealous one."
"You're very talkative," Henry said speculatively. "How do you feel?"
"Really, really bad."
"Uh huh." Henry frowned in concentration at his hand on Mike's chest. Mike knew what he was going to try and he found himself willing his heart to beat. He locked gazes with Henry and Henry removed his hand.
Mike flushed and his vision greyed. He opened his mouth to pant. His heart faltered and beat, faltered and beat. Then it caught its familiar rhythm and beat regularly.
In a flurry of movement, Henry hurled himself back from Mike and threw his hands over his face. Then he pulled them down and tipped his head back as if he were suddenly breathing free air. "You. Are going to live," he said.
But Mike wasn’t sure he was going to stay conscious. "Yay," he said through numb lips. "But-you . . ."
"At least I won't have you on my conscience," Henry said, and his huge grin looked genuinely rejoicing. As Mike faded out of consciousness he thought, That's the last time I'll see him. Vampire.
###
Vicki set out as fast as she dared. Between sobs Tina had explained about the room at the top of the Annex and how she'd set the door to lock with her-this part strained Vicki's credulity-her Harry Potter wand.
As creepy as the old building was, it was a relief to be out of the rain. Vicki took the stairs three at a time. On the top floor she put on her glasses so she would have no trouble identifying the heavy metal door, and, there beside it, the black dowel with a silver cap. A magician's wand. Vicki picked it up, broke it, and hurled it across the landing. Extending her baton in one hand, her heart in her throat, she opened the thick door.
Mike lay on the floor, Henry's coat over him, his legs elevated against a wall. Henry sat beside him against the same wall. There was water on the floor. Relief flooded her for Henry, but for Mike-
"What the hell happened here?" she demanded.
Henry smiled at her, his huge happy smile. "Vicki," he said, rising. "What took you so long?"
###
Vicki had spent most of the day dozing in Mike's hospital room while Mike slept off the transfusion he'd been given. After dark, Henry joined them and Vicki and Henry sat in the institutional chairs provided in the room. Mike looked better, despite having various IVs running into his arms.
After giving vent to her feelings in a lengthy tirade about what she'd do if either of them ever vanished on her like that again, Vicki settled in to watch the two men. They'd listened to her with identical patient expressions on their faces, occasionally exchanging knowing glances. It was starting to piss her off.
Henry had attacked Mike and drunk his blood. Again! And rather than be angry at him about it, Mike was actually joking with Henry like they were old war buddies. And Henry kept waxing poetic about how close brushes with death made you appreciate your life all the more. At least that allowed Mike and Vicki to exchange knowing glances about him.
After one of his more flowery speeches, Mike said, "Vicki's right. You should write Hallmark cards."
Henry stood to go, and gathered his coat. Vicki stood to follow him. They'd had little time to really talk the evening before.
Henry paused in the doorway and gave the patient a long-suffering expression. "How many times do I have to tell you, Celluci, they're called Graphic Novels."
Vicki and Mike both laughed, Mike's laughter following them into the hallway. Henry stayed close to her as they strolled through the hospital maze in the direction of the parking garage. But then, he always did stay close to her.
"You know, buster," she said, jabbing him with an elbow. "I walk in on you and Mike with Mike passed out from blood loss, and it doesn't look good. You're just lucky Mike corroborates your story."
She felt him stiffen as he turned his head to look directly at her. At his stricken expression, she said, "Kidding. Only kidding. I was a cop, you know."
Henry shook his head. "Please don't joke, Vicki. Do you know what my greatest fear is?"
She glanced at him, uncomfortable. Were all artists so emotional?
"My greatest fear is that you won't trust me."
"Huh. My greatest fear is that my mom will visit without calling first."
Henry stopped dead, heedless of the busy corridor, turned to her and took her forearms in his hands, turning up her wrists. Vicki fidgeted. Okay, yeah, there were a lot of things she was more scared of than her mom. Geez, he was serious.
"Yeah, I know," she said reclaiming her arms. "You want to know what scares me? I was scared to death I wouldn't find you alive."
At this admission he smiled. "Me too," he said.
"These haven't gone away," she said, indicating her tattoos. "That means you can't . . ."
"I know," he said sadly. He gave her a look that clearly said, "I want a kiss."
No way. Here in the hall? What is this, middle school? But she felt sorry for him. For them both. She took his arm and headed them back into the corridor.
"Well, maybe we could cuddle," she said.
"I'll take what I can get," he replied.
I bet you will, she thought fondly. Vampire.
The end