Dead-Tective Box Set

  "It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Stokes," Bat bid me farewell.

  "The pleasure was all yours," I mumbled. I knocked my back into one of the research tables, and sheepishly grinned at him. "Um, be seeing you."

  I swung around and sprinted toward the front door. There were no hurried footsteps behind me, no shouts to stop. I hit the door, flung it open, and burst out into the cool, clean night air. I took a deep breath of the city air and choked on some exhaust. Yep, I was free.

  Chapter 6

  Unfortunately, I was also totally lost. I had no idea where I was, and with all the creepiness of that night I even doubted when I was. The stars would have been useful if I knew how to read them, but since I didn't know the Ursa Major from a C Minor I took off in a random direction. There were only four cardinal directions to go. How wrong could I be? Apparently very wrong.

  I managed to get out of the forest of dilapidated factories and into one of the less luxurious parts of town. There were abandoned cars without tires, or even rims, and every window in the tall apartment buildings was broken. The roads were potholes with short strips of broken concrete. Walls that weren't spray-painted with graffiti were-wait, there were no walls that didn't have graffiti. Shop doors were ajar because thieves had already stolen everything of value, and on the stoops of several apartment buildings sat the thieves themselves. They leered at me, and I shakily smiled back and hurried on. Far off I heard sirens and gunshots. The sirens faded into the distance, but the gunshots got closer. The whole place made my crummy street look like Malibu-Fort Knox.

  Some of the stoop stooges decided I looked a little lost, which I was, and wanted to offer their help, which I didn't want. A particularly bad crowd, they had tattoos, buzz-cuts, and torn, blood-stained clothing, followed me off the steps of their wrecked apartment building. I nervously glanced back, and they hollered and hooted at me. It would take more than a few catcalls to flatter me, it would take them taking a bath.

  I hurried my steps along the filthy street with no end to the ruin in sight. The men picked up their speed, and my instincts took over. They told me to run. I shot off down the street and the men gave chase, calling for me to stop. They whispered sweet promises of rape if I stopped, and promises of rape-murder if I didn't. None of those choices sounded good to me, but they were much faster than me. I thought to lose them in the maze of alleys that were pocketed between the apartment buildings, so I shot into the first one I came to. Bad idea. I ran a dozen yards down the alley before I realized a ten-foot tall brick wall stood in my path. It was a dead end, and the guys behind me meant to make that a literal description.

  I skidded to a stop at the end of the alley and swung around to find the silhouette of the gang members standing in the opening to the alley. Their brass knuckles shined in the weak starlight, and their chuckles froze my blood. One of them, the leader, stepped forward. He was a particularly impressive specimen of his kind with yellowed, chipped teeth, a bald head that was marked with battle scars, and clothes that just screamed run, ladies!

  He looked me over with a lecherous grin. "You look a little lost, lamb," he remarked. His cohorts snickered and tussled each other for the line behind their leader. He had first grabs on me. "Want us to help ya out?"

  "N-no, I'm fine. Just going for a night stroll," I replied.

  "The night can be pretty dangerous," the man commented. He took a few steps toward me and towered over my small, quivering frame. "Why don't ya let us help ya? We don't ask much."

  "I don't have any money on me, so I guess I'll just have to find my own way." I tried to slip past him, but he grabbed my shoulder and pulled my back against his large, stinking chest. His hands wrapped around me and pinned me to him.

  He leaned down and his breath smelled like the bottom of a public toilet. "Not so fast, girlie. Let's have some fun first, and then we'll let ya go. Maybe." One of his hands reached up and cupped my breast.

  I squirmed and pulled, but I couldn't free myself. "No! Please don't!" I cried out.

  "The night is too dangerous for you," a smooth voice spoke up. The men and I glanced at the front of the alley and saw-actually, we didn't see anyone there.

  I took advantage of the guy's distraction by slipping down out of his grasp and jumping away from him. Unfortunately, that way was toward the brick wall. "You'd better do what the creepy voice said or it'll, um, bore you to death," I warned them.

  The leader blinked, and a grin replaced his confused expression. He let out a great, bellowing laugh, and his minions hesitantly joined in. The man sneered and glanced around at the shadows. "Whoever ya are get out here and face us! Or are ya too scared to mess with my gang?" he challenged.

  "Not too scared," the voice replied. I screamed when a form melted out of the shadows of the building right beside me. That fright nearly gave me the energy to scale the brick wall behind me, but I didn't try when I realized it was Vincent at my side. "Too indifferent," he added.

  "Don't scare me like that!" I scolded him as I clutched onto my chest. My heart was playing drums for a heavy metal band, and it was on a solo part.

  Fortunately, the leader was also frightened by Vincent's appearance and he stumbled back a few yards. "What the hell? Where did you come from?"

  "Your nightmares," Vincent replied before he dove at the gang leader. Vincent latched onto the man's neck, and the leader changed from a bold, giant brute to a scared little girl in one high-pitched scream. His scream was cut off when he was struck with the lethargy of the vampire bite. The men behind him made a chorus of tenors as they turned tail and ran. Vincent flung the man backward and the gang leader sailed past me and hit face-first into the brick wall. The vampire shot off after the retreating gang members and I was glad when they all rounded the corners and I could only hear their terror rather than see what Vincent was doing to them.

  I also didn't want to stick around to see what plans Vincent had for me. I swung around and saw my way out in the form of the would-be rapist. The man was aware enough to raise himself on his hands and knees, and that gave me just the boost I needed. I ran at him, jumped onto his solid back, and used him as a springboard to grasp the top of the brick wall. The gang leader crumbled beneath my shoes, but I had my hold and pulled myself over. I dropped down the other side and high-tailed it down the other side of the alley. I didn't get far before a moving shadow swooped out of the unmoving shadows and stood in my way.

  "I'm not going back with you," I refused.

  Vincent's voice was flat-line and bored. "That isn't why I followed you," he replied.

  I raised an eyebrow and narrowed my eyes. "Then why did you follow me? Feeling a bit peckish?"

  "I'm fond of my existence, and my existence is bound to yours. If you die, I die," he reminded me.

  "So you were just saving your own neck by biting theirs?" I quipped.

  "Exactly. I was also thirsty. You drained me of most of my energy."

  "You mean with that glowy light thing?" I guessed, and he nodded. "What was that, anyway?"

  "Your body reacted to danger and your wound by stealing my life-force to rejuvenate your own."

  I snorted. "I like to think of it as permanent borrowing."

  "I don't care."

  I frowned and crossed my arms. "Obviously, but mind getting out of my way so we can go our separate ways?"

  "Without a guide you will destroy us both," he argued.

  "Are you trying to tell me that I can't take care of myself?" I asked him.

  "Wouldn't think of it," he blandly replied.

  "Good, because otherwise I'd have to kill you, or destroy you, or whatever I need to do to make you into something a vacuum can take care of."

  "That would kill you," he pointed out.

  I waved away his comment. "Details, details, now are you going to be my guide or do I have to go off and practice my damsel-in-distress routine again?" Vincent's mouth straightened into a perfect line, and before I could stop him he'd lifted me in his arms and sped out of the
alley and down the street.

  The wind whipped past us, and my hair whipped me. "I can walk!" I protested as I pulled my hair out of my mouth and eyes.

  "Your ability is not in question, it is the speed that is up for debate," he replied.

  "My speed is just fine for a human!"

  "Your speed is pathetic for what you have become."

  I rolled my eyes. "Don't give me the same b.s. that Bat was saying, or I'll slug you with a cross."

  "That is mere fiction," he retorted.

  "Baseball bat smothered in garlic?" I suggested.

  "That is fact."

  "Then I'll beat you with a bat if you don't let me-"

  "We're there." Vincent jerked to a stop and unceremoniously dropped me to the hard ground. I yelped and glared up at him as I rubbed my wounded posterior.

  "Could you give a warning before you put on the brakes? Something like a light on your nose blinking?" I requested.

  "Look around."

  I growled, but my eyes heeded his command and glanced around us. That's when I realized we stood in front of my apartment building. We'd covered a dozen miles in one bantering session. "Wow," I murmured in awe.

  "If you can take care of yourself than surely you have no more need of me. Goodnight." He whipped away down the street, but managed to whip my hair into my eyes one last time.

  I pulled the loose strands aside and growled. "That vampire is more than a pain in the neck," I grumbled. I stood and hurried inside to escape the dark and the stupid creatures it held. My apartment was safely reached, but then I realized I'd lost my key during all the 'fun' of the evening.

  Chapter 7

  Unfortunately, that was just fine because my door was ajar. Well, it was still a door, but an open one, and glancing inside I could see someone had redecorated. Every piece of furniture was upside down and the stuffings ripped out of it. Tables lay on their sides and every piece of china was broken. I tripped inside and gaped at the mess. "What the hell-?" I whispered.

  I stumbled over the ruins of my belongings and my life. Nothing was untouched by the destructive hands. I reached the television and my foot crunched down on glass. I glanced down and saw I'd stepped on a wooden frame. It's glass covering was broken, and when I picked it up I saw the image was torn. It was a picture of Tim and me smiling. We'd convinced Vincent to take it a few years ago because he didn't want to be in it. I imagined a lack of reflection had something to do with that.

  Tears sprang into my eyes and I stumbled back to sit on the overturned front end of the couch. I wasn't sure who'd done this, but I had a feeling it was those two cops. My free hand balled into a fist and I smashed it against the bottom of the couch. I regretted it when the hard wood frame beat out my soft, squishy hand, and to make matters worse I was still mad. I took the picture out of the frame and tucked it safely inside my jeans pocket.

  As for the rest of the place, I opted to leave it until I was sure what I wanted to do. Calling the cops would probably bring Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and they'd make the same mess of me as they had of my apartment. I did right the living room chair and an end table to make the crime scene a little more homey. I'd just plopped down for a really long nap when my stomach growled. I hadn't had anything to eat in a few terrifying, adrenaline-draining hours.

  At my stomach's bidding I walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. I glanced inside and my stomach churned at the various states of decomposing vegetables and spoiled milk. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I wasn't peckish for any of that and shut the door. A scouring of the cupboards succeeded in making me hungrier, but I still didn't find something I wanted to munch on.

  I growled and turned away from the cupboards just in time to see a shadow flash by the fire escape that stood outside one of the living room windows. My eyes widened and I waited for something epic and terrifying to happen. A minute ticked by and I decided waiting for something epic was boring, so I slunk over to the side of the window. I peeked my head around the edge of the frame.

  A large shadow loomed on the metal grate, and our eyes met. My bright blue ones widened and its yellow-orange ones narrowed. The thing jumped at the window, and I ducked as shards of glass rained down on me. I heard a growl and whipped my head up. Standing in my living room was another one of those wolf beasts, and this time I was close enough to catch a whiff of its breath. It smelled like it'd just ate somebody for dinner, and I was the dessert. The creature's orange eyes gazed at me and I scrambled back on my hands and rear. The thing quickly followed and reached out one of its clawed hands to grab me.

  My savior shadow swooped in through the broken window and knocked into it. The werewolf slammed to the floor, and Vincent jumped off its back and deftly landed beside me. He grabbed my shirt collar and yanked me to my feet. "You are doing an admirable job of staying alive," he quipped.

  I scowled at him and poked a finger into his chest. "Don't you dare tell me I can't-ah!" I yelped when Vincent grabbed my head and shoved it down to avoid a wide swipe of the creature's claws.

  "Your survival skills are impressive," he quipped. I tried to reply, but he shoved me out of the way as the werewolf lunged at us, and he himself dove to the left. The beast hit air and dug his claws into the carpet. I never liked that color, anyway.

  I rolled over the floor and hit the side of my chair. I was quick to recover, and glared at Vincent who stood across the room. "All right, so I can't take care of myself! You want me to give you a bone for being right?" The werewolf swung its head around and snarled at me. I held up my hands in front of me and nervously smiled. "No, doggy. I don't really have any bones."

  The beast leapt at me, and I screamed and rolled out of the way. Its claws were buried into the side of my chair and tore most of its stuffing from the arm. I tried to stand, but it grabbed my foot and yanked me toward it. My hands clawed at the carpet, but the werewolf dragged me back. Vincent flew by me and knocked into the werewolf. He slammed the beast into the wall, and I heard the screams of my frightened neighbors on the other side. I could just imagine them dialing 911, and that meant we only had a few hours until the police arrived, too late and undermanned.

  Apparently Vincent thought the same because he jumped back from the wolf thing and picked up a large shard of glass from the window. The beast pulled itself from its crater in the wall and roared. It was reckless with anger and lunged at Vincent without seeing what he was holding. Unfortunately, I saw everything, including when Vincent coolly sliced the air with the shard of glass. The sharp, homemade blade cut clear through the beast's head, and its blood splattered the entire room. I wasn't spared from the blood shower, and my filthy clothes were further filthed by the disgusting red dye of life fluid.

  Vincent tossed aside the glass and strode over to me. He knelt in front of me and looked me over. "Are you all right?" he asked me.

  I replied in the only sensible way a girl could. I fainted.

  Chapter 8

  I don't know how long I was out, but when I woke up I wasn't in Kansas, anymore, or at least not in my apartment. My eyes fluttered open and I found myself staring at a white ceiling with a simple light fixture. I turned my head and noticed it was a whole room of blandness, but I lay on a couch that looked like one of those ones used for mental patients. For one wild moment I considered the whole thing a dream and me a psycho ward patient, but Bat sat close by in a chair. Behind him sat a dresser and to the right of that was the door out of the room. The couch I lay on sat against the opposite wall, and on the same wall but in the opposite corner stood a refrigerator.

  I wasn't sure whether to be glad or depressed to see him. I'd been saved from the nightmare of my apartment and shoved back into the weirdness that was him. I sat up and winced when my head complained of the movement. That knock against the chair gave me a delicious ostrich egg complete with scrambled brains.

  "Is there a doctor in the house?" I muttered.

  Bat chuckled. "I have several PhD's, but none that quickens the healing process," he
replied. "How are you feeling?"

  I rubbed my sore head. "Like I was run over by the Werewolf Express."

  "Yes, an experience with a werewolf leaves one with a few knocks and bruises," he agreed.

  "And stains," I added as I looked down at myself. My clothes were speckled by the werewolf's blood. "Any way I can get a spare shirt?"

  Bat stood and walked over to the dresser. He opened a drawer and revealed a long line of spare white shirts like what he wore. "If you don't mind wearing my size," he teased.

  "I think I can handle it." He tossed me a shirt and turned to give me some privacy. I slipped off the blood rag and slipped on the clean shirt.

  "What do you think about my proposition now?" Bat spoke up.

  I tossed my shirt off the end of the couch and looked back to him. "What proposition?" I asked him.

  "About changing your life. Vincent and I swore we would let you return to your old life, but your enemies will not be as lenient."

  "That would have been nice to know before I nearly got myself killed," I snapped. I paused and furrowed my brow. "Wait a sec. My enemies? I didn't do anything to them, unless they hate me for existing."

  "Existing with Tim's ring," he added. "That ring grants immortality to any mortal, and they prefer to keep their mortals mortal. It makes humans easier to handle."

  "Who is they, anyway? I feel like we're talking about Voldemort here."

  "The Syndicate," Bat replied.

  "The Syndicate?" I'd entered a really bad horror novel.

  "A Sanguine Syndicate, to be exact, for there are many in the world, though none as dangerous as the one in this city. We often shorten it to ASS in conversations." I choked on my spittle and he smiled. "It's a pleasure to hear you laugh at my jokes. I was afraid Tim had been replaced with a person who held the same sense of humor as Vincent."

  I scowled at him. "I'm nothing like that-that-"

  "-vampire?" he finished for me.

  "Among other things," I agreed.

  "From what little I have learned of your temperament I would say you two are of opposite dispositions."

  "Huh?"

  "Your personalities don't get along."