Detective Spring Ch. 06

An hour later, I was drying my hair after taking a shower. Arden and John were waiting downstairs with my sister for us to explain what Shades were and I'm sure they wanted more information than that. I threw on a pair of yoga pants, tank top that showed off my stomach and an over-sized sweater that opened down the front. I continued to dry my hair as I walked down the stairs, I listened to their conversation as I quieted my steps so that even a vampire wouldn't hear me.

"So the Shade are a magical community that work for the council in secret and can rip off your flesh without touching you...but only after they touch you. Okay, but that doesn't explain why they're here, or what's wrong with your sister." John said.

"I don't know why they're here. And as for Alys, well...our entire lives she has only been afraid of one thing...the Shade. Send her against the most powerful creature in all the universe and she would barely bat an eyelash. She's never cared if she lived or died as long as it was the right thing to do, but the Shade...they burned a scar in her so deep that even death couldn't erase that pain." She explained sadly.

"What did they do?" Arden asked quietly.

"They murdered our parents. Alys kept me from that pain, but she couldn't keep herself from it." Cadence said and I could hear the pain in her voice. We had talked about it only a handful of times in all our years together and every time she swears that it should have been her instead of me to see and hear what happened to them, but I am glad I saved her from its horror. If nothing else, I know I have done that good for her.

"Will you tell me?" Arden asked quietly again, but he wasn't looking at Cadence anymore, he was looking at me as I stood on the steps just far down enough that I could look into the room. I walked down the rest of the steps and stood behind the chair closest to the staircase.

I started quiet and a bit solemn, "It was three days before our fifteenth birthday, we had done the things we did every day; pick fruits and vegetables from the garden, do laundry, help make dinner, we went to bed like we always did. We slept in a room no bigger than my powder room, it only fit a bed really. Mother used to say that it would be easier to hide us the less room we took up- and how much room did we need to sleep really, we even slept in the same bed...There was this crack in the wood, just big enough that I could watch them through. The man that raised us was not our real father but he loved us and our mother so much that it didn't matter to him. Every night I would watch them dance or laugh, or just sit quietly and be together. I remember thinking that one day I would find a love like theirs and I would never let it go." I smiled remembering the look on my mothers face as she laughed at another one of my fathers jokes, she had the most beautiful smile. I was lucky to still be able to remember it after all this time, but then I frowned. "It seemed like every other night but as darkness fell a sense of dread washed over me. We went to bed and several hours later I awoke to a loud crashing noise. I looked through the crack to see several dark creatures closing in on my mother. My fathers body lay near her feet; he was still breathing and she was trying to protect him, using her body as a shield."

"I watched as one of them just...laid its hand down on her wrist, another on our fathers ankle. I don't think my mother knew what they did or who they were because she seemed confused, almost a little relieved even. That's when I covered Cadence's ears and made sure she could see nothing. Our mother screamed and collapsed next to our father and they both writhed in pain and they weren't even being touched. Their worst fears coming true and I could do nothing to stop it. Blood started to pool around their bodies from cuts I could not see, horror etched into their every feature. Father died first. It was then that she looked at me, through my little crack in the wood, her eyes bore into mine, pleading with me to keep quiet, to not let them find us. Her lips silently said 'I love you' and then I watched as her soul left her body. It was then I saw the cuts; they covered nearly every inch of her."

"...They have been hunting us ever since." I finished and wiped away a tear from the side of my face, I hadn't even known I shed it. I had never told anyone the full story before and I hadn't realized how emotionally taxing it would be. I took a couple of cleansing breaths but it wasn't working so I decide I needed a drink.

I walked into the kitchen, no one had followed me yet so I took the advantage and wrapped a couple of bags of blood in a dish towel and put them in the dumb waiter along with a bottle of bourbon, after I poured myself a glass that is, on ice. Sending the small elevator up to my room, it would come up in my closet so at least if I was followed up to my room no one else would see it first. I turned and found the three of them walking over to the kitchen as I moved to stand at the counter and took a sip from my glass.

Cadence moved around me to pull three more small glasses out of the cabinet and a new bottle of bourbon out of another and put them on the island and started making drinks.

"Do you know why they killed them?" John asked in a tone that said he was trying to tread lightly.

"Us. They killed them because they had us." I said sadly. My phone started ringing. I could have sworn I left it up stairs in my room, but now the sound seemed like it was coming from Marta's basement apartment. I looked up at Arden who seemed confused.

"Do you hear that?" I asked as I moved towards the basement door under the stairs.

He just looked at me like he was confused, as if he didn't really hear what I had said. I opened the door and a strong stench hit me, but I couldn't place what it was, almost as if my senses were dulled. I didn't feel light headed or like anything was physically wrong and yet, I felt as if I was fading, like I wasn't really here. I walked down the stairs and into the apartment; my phone had stopped ringing but soon started again and I followed the noise to the bedroom. I looked down and a dark red liquid was seeping from under the door. I opened the door and stepped inside. looking over at the bed, I spotted my phone, and when I looked down at it and saw that the number was that of the officer who had called me about Marcus Hadden's death. I walked further into the room following the trail of blood towards the bathroom. The door was closed and again blood was seeping from under it. I gently pushed open the door.

Laying on the floor, white as snow, with horror etched into her eyes was Marta. Three brutally long slashes dragged across the front of her body. I wanted to scream, I wanted to drop to my knees and cradle her body in my arms and beg for her death not to be real but I could not will myself to do so. I could feel the tears flowing down my face as I turned back to look at her small bedroom window; a Shade was climbing out of it. It looked back at me and smiled a black smile and then it was gone.

Suddenly I was falling into an endless pit of blackness and I could hear my phone ringing once again.

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I shot upright in my bed, covered in sweat and tears streaming down my face.

Hey, don't move so quickly. We don't need you passing out again." I hear Arden's strong voice roll over me so smoothly. He sat down on the bed next to me, "I only left the room for five minutes." He said with a worried smile.

My phone rang again and I looked over to see that the same officer was calling me again. Wiping my face, I picked up my phone and checked the time; it was four o'clock in the afternoon. I rubbed my eyes. It was a vision, I had been here the whole time. But when had I gone into it?

"Its been going off all day, but your sister warned me that answering your phone was not a good idea." Arden said with a humorous tone.

I gave him a weak smile as I answered the phone, "You've got a body for me?" I asked knowing the answer.

"Yes, how did you..." he started to ask, but thought better of it and stopped, " Marcus Hadden found at that..." He started but I interrupted.

"Thank you, I know. Please send over a file with all the pertinent information in it, I won't be able to come in for it today." I said, gave him the address and he confirmed as I hung up.

I looked over at Arden, who seemed a bit perplexed. It was a much more him look than the one of confusion in my vision. "What happened?" I asked.

"Well I'm not exactly sure, we were going over paperwork. I hadn't even opened the wine yet, you seemed lost in thought and then the next thing I knew you passed out." He said sounding worried again.

"Had you bitten your lip?" I asked looking down at his lips. Of course there wouldn't be a mark; being a vampire, it heals almost instantly.

"Yeah, I was thinking about something and bit my lip. Why?" He asked sounding a little guilty.

"I smelt your blood, that's when I passed out." I sighed and ran my hands through my hair as I scratched my head. "Okay, I have to send my house keeper on vacation and take a shower. And then the four of us need to talk." I swung my legs over the side of the bed, I was still wearing my sweat shorts and off the shoulder sweater that showed off my belly. I got up and moved around my bed to walk over to the stairs but Arden grabbed my hand turning me back to him.

"You can..not go down stairs in those, John's down there and he's..." He started but I put my fingers onto his lips.

"If I remember correctly, last night they were humping each other on the couch." I asked knowingly.

"Well yeah but they stopped when I told your sister what happened." He said a little confused.

"Trust me, John wont be looking at me like that again unless hes making some kind of joke. My sister owns him now." I said smiling, "Now if you tell me why you really don't want me to go down stairs in these, I might consider changing." I said stepping towards him, I could almost swear I saw him blush.

He frowned as he seemed to be trying to come up with an answer that didn't completely ruin him, I smiled knowingly and kissed the palm of his hand and went back into my closet. I took off my shorts and threw on a wrap skirt. I headed down the stairs first, Arden close behind, When we hit the bottom floor, Cadence was instantly at my side.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked, sounding way to worried for my liking.

"I'm not sure but I do know it's a good thing, now let me send Marta on vacation and shower, then we can talk about it. Okay?" I said as I opened the door into the basement apartment, I didn't smell anything like death this time and that was incredibly reassuring. I felt really good actually, after all the pain my vision had brought, waking up meant I knew how to stop it from happening. The fact that I didn't step into blood when I came down here and that I could hear Marta humming, meant that just by not going to Marcus's crime seen meant that they hadn't followed us home and killed her. They hadn't found us, not yet and it meant we still had options.

"Marta." I called as I entered her kitchen and she turned around to look at me.

"Alys? Is everything alright, you never come down here." She asked sounding a little worried but continued making what seemed like her dinner.

"Yeah, everything is alright for now. But I'm working on a case that has become a problem and I thought it would be best if you weren't around for a while. So I thought to myself, when was the last time Marta went on a vacation? I can't remember, so I'm sending you on one, the only qualification is that it has to be far away from here. I'll pay for everything don't worry. I just need to know your safe." I pleaded with her.

"Alright, alright, if you think that's best, you don't have try so hard. You had me when you said you would pay for everything." She said smiling and gave me a big, warm hug. At least I would know she's safe. "When do you need me gone?" She asked.

"As soon as possible, I have an officer dropping off paperwork in a bit, I'll have him take you to the airport. We'll let you know when they get here, but it should be soon. Oh, and one more thing. Don't come back until I call you. I just don't want to tell you to come back in two weeks and then you walk into a war zone." I said, hopefully she would understand.

"No problem! You're sending me on vacation and I get to stay for as long as I want, plus I'm not paying. You're the best boss ever! But...hey, be careful, I want to have a boss when I come back, you hear?" She said smiling, gave me another quick squeeze and headed back into her bedroom to pack as I went back upstairs. As soon as I closed the door, Cadence was at my side again.

"Why are you sending Marta on vacation? You would only do that if, well right now anyway, if you knew something you're not telling me." She said more than asked as I crossed the room to a bookcase in the living room. John and Arden were hovering around the couches, watching us.

"That's right." I said and opened a book, looking inside of the front cover. It held my emergency cards, most of them were accounts under other names I had used in the past. One of the cards had Marta's name on it; I had put fifty thousand on it years ago in case anything ever happened to me so she would be covered. I pulled it out and handed it to Cadence as I headed back towards the stairs.

"What do you mean 'that's right'? You didn't know anything before you passed out last night. You had one phone call! What was that about?" She asked, starting to sound frustrated.

"Oh, that was the precinct. Marcus Hadden died last night at about eleven, eleven thirty at the next warehouse over from the one we found John tied up in yesterday. Turns out he owned those two and five more in that row. He was killed in the same way the girl was, same evidence except for he had some sort of oil on his pants and one more slash on his body. The killer is counting his victims. That's all I know that you don't and I can't talk about the rest until Marta leaves with the officer that is dropping off the paperwork. Now, if he comes before I come back down ask him to take Marta to the airport and give Marta that card and tell her it has fifty thousand on it to cover her expenses. Am I clear?" I asked looking at her seriously.

"Yeah but..." The wheels were turning in her head and then shock spread over her face, "You're not supposed to be able to do that!" She nearly shouted angrily, which had John and Arden's heads spinning towards us.

"It's been a long time, Cadence, you didn't think somethings would eventually slip through? Look, we cant talk about this now, if anyone thinks she knows, her life is in danger and I will not go through that again. Do you understand?" I said firmly. I could see a slight look of bewilderment on their faces.

"And them? What are they, collateral damage?" She asked, quieter but still angrily.

"No, they're screwed without our help, but misery loves company. Now just let me go shower, I promise by the time I'm done Marta will be gone and all will be made clear." I said and she finally let me go back up the stairs.

A half an hour later I was getting dressed. I decided to dress in something simple, just a pair of comfortable jeans, a half tank shirt with open back that showed off my stomach and the oversized sweater that was open down the front from my vision. It fell to about half way down my thigh. I slid my SIG into the back of my pants; the sweater would do well to hide it in case the intruder from my vision showed up, however unlikely it might be.

I went back to drying my hair as I descended the stairs, throwing the wet towel on the railing before checking to make sure the front door was locked. I knew the windows were all locked because no one ever opened them.

"Marta is gone, yes?" I questioned as I made my way towards the basement door.

"Yeah she left about ten minutes ago." Arden said eyeing me suspiciously. I made sure her door was locked and then the back door as well before doubling back to the kitchen and finding four glasses and the bottle of bourbon and got out the ice. After making the drinks, Arden helped me bring them back into the living room even though Cadence and John tried to join us in the kitchen.

Cadence gave me a strange look, "Just want to stay away from similarities as much as possible." I said as I sat down in one of the arm chairs and Arden sat in the other. Cadence and John sat across from us on the couch, her legs over his lap.

"By the way, I don't know how far it went on that couch but you're buying me a new one." I said with a disgusted smile. Cadence laughed, but John only managed a chuckle. "Well, where should we start? Lets go with the easiest first, shall we? I know who our murderer is." I said and dropped my smile, this was really the worst part but the easiest to explain.

Arden let out a sigh, "Oh? Well great, who is it?" He asked leaning forward.

"It's Mark Dumont, the missing boyfriend."

"Mark? But he was such a good guy! That doesn't seem right, unless he was playing at something. But what?" Cadence asked, leaning forward as well.

"He was. He's a Shade." I said, staying strong this time. Instantly tears fell from her face. She stood and walked back to the kitchen, chugging her drink as she went. I went to stand, but without looking she just put up a hand, stating she just needed a minute.

"What was that? What's a Shade?" John leaned forward and asked, while motioning back to Cadence.

"Just the most vile creature on the planet." Cadence said from the kitchen to no one in particular, though I could hear the pain in her voice.

"The Shade are the darkest of the dark; one touch and they can make your deepest fears come true, give the worse pain you've ever had, tear your body apart and they don't even have to touch you to be doing it." Cadence came back over and filled my glass a little fuller than acceptable by polite standards and went to stare out of the window. John looked at her perplexed, I could tell he wanted to go to her but didn't want to over step a boundary they hadn't gone past yet. His eyes shifted to me for an answer to his unasked question, Arden's eyes seem to ask it too.

"They murdered our parents." I said and sat back in my chair again.

"Did you ever find out why?" Arden asked, even asking such a question. I loved hearing his voice.

I smiled but it never met my eyes, "Us. They killed them because they had us, and they have been hunting us ever since."

"Why, what are you that they wanted you dead?" John asked.

I grinned and adjusted so I was sitting on one of my legs, "Now that question has a real interesting answer, but since were playing show and tell. Why don't you join in? We've given you a bit of information about us that in it by its self could get us killed if told to the right people." I said and felt Cadence move to lean against the back of my chair.

"What do you mean?" Arden asked eyeing me suspiciously once again.

"I mean that I know you both are more than just vampires." I said matter-of-factly.

They both tried to act confused but I knew they were both trying to decide if they could trust us.

"How do we know if we can trust you?" John asked in a tone I hadn't heard him use yet; it was strong and dominant.

"You're questioning our loyalty? Arden; last night at the restaurant you heard Odessa call me her hero, correct?" I said and he nodded, I stood turned around and slid my sweater down to my elbows as I moved my hair aside. "I got this while trying to save her life. The second time. I would have died if I was normal. Call her and ask. She will confirm what I have said." I said and scooped up my drink and walked over towards the stairs. "You know, this went a lot easier the first time around, granted I was pissed and maybe a bit in shock the first time but..." I mumbled, I didn't really know where I was going with that anyway.