37: Truth and Consequence – Pt. 1

“Hey,” Derrick smiled as Victoria opened the door to let him inside. “I got your message, sorry I didn’t get here sooner but I had to make a pit stop.” His fingers tapped lightly on the top of a box he was holding as he made his way towards her living room.

“It’s ok I was just going over some of the evidence from the last few crime scenes hoping to see some sort of connection. Nothing’s jumped out at me yet though. You look nice tonight. New coat? Did I cut your date short or something?”

“Date, right. No not at all, Victoria. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this or not but it’s sort of snowing outside.”

 

“Oh trust me I’ve noticed and I’m hoping it doesn’t stick. It was freezing in here too and I don’t care for a white Christmas. I wasn’t aware that you felt the cold though; given that you’re body temperature is oh, dead. As for me, I was about to just give up on this thing and go upstairs to my blanket.”

“Mmm was that an invitation?”

“I don’t think so.” Victoria smiled to herself and although she couldn’t see it, she could tell there was a grin on his face as well. She took her spot back on the couch and sipped quietly from her glass of wine as Derrick placed the items he brought with him near his foot. “Would you like something to drink?” she asked casually and grabbed the last file she’d begun reading before cozying herself against the pillows.

“I thought you’d never ask. Be a dear and tilt your head to the side for me, unless you prefer we do it in the kitchen, this could get messy…oh, ohh you meant from the bar. Uh, yeah sure,” Derrick smirked as Victoria looked up at him with a half smile.

“Cute.”

“You make it too easy sometimes, Victoria. I’ll take a Bourbon please,” he watched as she strolled towards the den to fix his drink and sat the box on the sofa where she was sitting. “So since you hit a dead end with the investigation you ever consider a bit of magic?”

“Honestly I’m still just a bit apprehensive about doing that alone,” she shouted the beginning of her reply as she started back to the living room. “But now that you’re here, maybe.” Victoria noticed the box taking up her spot and sighed towards the vampire who took a seat on the floor near the table and quietly drank from the glass she handed him. “What’s in the box?”

“Um I don’t know but I have an idea, why don’t you open it and find out?”

“Ok…” Victoria ignored the smug look on Derrick’s face as she removed the top and tore through the first few layers of decorative tissue paper. Finally reaching the item wrapped in light plastic and tied with a red bow she pulled it from its wrapping and turned to him with a grin. “Derrick!”

In her hands was a stuffed vampire teddy bear, similar to the one he’d won for her at the Festival of Lights in Danbury over a month ago. “Well seeing how your last one got toasted, it seemed like a tragedy you know, you not getting to snuggle with him so I…”

“You went to get me a new one?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“He’s adorable, Derrick, thank you! Hmm I think I’ll name him Vex! For old time’s sake.”

“Merry Christmas,” he laughed as she lifted the bear to her face and gave it a kiss.

“Basketball again?”

“Actually it was some strange rubber ducky thing. I honestly have no idea what the concept was behind the game. I had to knock over a floating bathtub toy that corresponded to one of the prizes the attendant was offering. I spent about $90 going through the entire tub until I got the bear.”

“Wow. For that amount of money you should have just compelled the guy to hand it over,” Victoria laughed as she took her seat and Derrick dropped his gaze into his glass with a watery laugh. “It’s a very sweet gesture, Derrick, really, thank you. Now I have to figure out what to give the man who has it all.”

“That you’ve already done,” he responded in a low tone as he shuffled through the papers in front of him.

“What’s that?”

“Oh I said that should be fun. No one ever gets it right. Then again I don’t have many people buying me gifts either,” he cleared his throat and turned the pages to read them better, doing his best to avoid the concerned look in Victoria’s eyes.

“When was the last time you actually celebrated the holidays, Derrick?”

“Oh…well let me think; a century, maybe two. I haven’t had family in over 300 years so there have been no seasonal get-togethers. As a tavern frequenting youth I’d always enjoyed a rowdy crowd. It wasn’t a party until someone was beaten to a bloody pulp, passed out drunk or carried out in their knickers and tossed into a thorn bush. But after a while and about two hundred years it stopped being as fun. Large crowds became unbearable, loud music was obnoxious and drunken party-goers were insufferable.”

“You own a club,” she laughed as he continued speaking.

“That fact notwithstanding,” Derrick smiled in return, “I haven’t enjoyed social gatherings in quite some time. That is of course until Thanksgiving with your family. I presumed doing that sort of activity with a friend would be more satisfying than with drunken, faceless strangers; it’s why I sort of invited myself along.” 

Victoria took in the gloomy expression on Derrick’s face as he spoke and nibbled her bottom lip in contemplation. It was strange for her to see him so defeated and sullen, so genuine. “Well if you’re interested, Mike’s having a Christmas party at his place this year. You’re more than welcomed to come with me,” she smiled as his eyes caught hers. “I-I mean if you don’t already have plans.”

“That would be wonderful, Victoria! I would be delighted to go as your date, thank you,” he responded and hooked his arm around his leg, drawing it into his chest.

“That’s not what I um…” she started and took a deep breath, pausing midsentence, “Great! I’ll drop by your place around 7 on Saturday and pick you up.”

“Sounds good. One question though, I’m not in any way obligated to buy him a gift am I?” 

“Not unless you want to fly to some place called ‘Murray’s’ in New York and score some cured meats and smoked cheese. He’s forever going on about that place and how much he misses real Italian flavor in the Delis here. I said ‘Mike you’re from Jersey you’re supposed to hate New York’ it didn’t seem to penetrate.” Victoria returned her attention to the folder in her lap and read over the report of the last homicide victims. “So this guy we’re hunting, he’s like a collector of sorts right?”

“Yes I suppose that’s a fair characterization. He has harvested essence or body parts from these murdered women so far.”

“And what if it’s only witches?”

“I’m not sure I follow. I mean there’s no evidence we’ve uncovered so far that relates to just witches.”

“No but so far it’s only been witches to my knowledge. And Mike had a theory that these latest victims had something else in common aside from the glitter on their fingers so I did some digging. There is a voodoo shop in that district not far from where the last body was found. In the register, crime scene technicians located a copious amount of that same glitter and subsequent testing verified it was a match to our victims. In addition to that, the owner, Malcolm Hamden, was reported missing shortly before we uncovered the first body and no one’s seen him since. The kicker, his friends all had the same thing to say about him, Malcolm was heavy into the occult.”

“And you think he has something to do with these murders?”

“I’m just working in theory right now, Derrick, but I mean it fits so far. Maybe Malcolm came across a book or something in his work and decided to give being a witch a go.”

“Ok. But how does that connect to the victims found some 25 years ago?”

“Possible copycat? What can you tell me about the Cultists, the ones who held the talismans, they were supernatural beings weren’t they?”

“True, they were.”

“And were they all witches?”

“To my knowledge they each herald from different lineages.”

“Ok so that wouldn’t fit into my theory.”

“Which is?”

“The Cult is behind this assassin playing in my backyard. I mean I get attacked in my own home by some creep in a cloak a few weeks after a gargoyle tries to roast my face off and then three women end up dead. On top of that it appears they had some dealings with a voodoo shop owned by a missing possible witch.” Derrick’s eyebrows went up listening to Victoria’s conjecture, he was impressed. Tiny clues which on the surface appeared to have little or no connection were starting to come together. “Ignore me; I have a pretty active imagination and it might take a minute for my blabbering to make sense.” 

“No, no, you’re doing great. It all flows to me. My thing is, we know the Cultists’ heritages contain at least 10 different types of Supernaturals. Working with your theory my concern would be finding other murders that might connect with these three women. There are hundreds of creatures that make up the underworld. If parts were taken from all of his victims then…”

“It could point to motive. And if we can narrow down what or who he’s after and get to them first…”

“We can predict his next move and beat him to the punch. I see why you’re a Detective First Class. But the problem arises when we consider the amount of creatures in existence. There’s no way of telling where he’s heading next.”

“Unless there’s a pattern based off of where he’s been. It’s very possible he’s left some sort of calling card I mean no one gets away completely clean, trust me I do this all the time in my line of work.”

“Alright. We should start by examining his victims the first time he appeared in Winchester 25 years ago,” Derrick suggested and watched as Victoria grabbed her laptop and pulled up the Nexus to search police databases.

“Three sisters were murdered and drained completely of blood, their cat was mutilated and missing his eyes. A few weeks after that a man was found stabbed to death in a hat shop he owned, his ears were cut off.”

“Ears?” Derrick asked and Victoria nodded.

“‘Police made a grisly discovery when they removed his hat to find both ears cleanly removed from the man’s head’. No suspects were named in the case.”

“He must have been elven.”

“Elven as in an elf? Like the Kebbler and shoe making kind?”

“Well I’m not so sure you’d want anything they made touching your lips let alone your feet considering they are rather evil and live to torture humans who think them to be peaceful and serene beings thanks to some authors. But yes elves, big eared, long living, magic weaving, hairless bodied and androgynous.” Derrick noticed Victoria’s curiosity slightly wane at the mention of that last word and smiled inwardly. “Was there anything else?”

“Nothing for three months until a high school teenager went missing. He was found a few days later with his teeth missing and his hands removed. God, when we catch this guy…”

“I’m already there, Victoria, trust me. Death won’t be slow for him.”

“Most of this stuff is FBI sealed which is why I called Cole and asked him to come over.”

“Hmm.”

“Find something?”

“Maybe. This isn’t one of his,” Derrick responded looking at the photographs of the recent crime scene as he stood pacing.

“What? How can you tell?”

“Look here,” Derrick motioned towards the victim’s neck. “All of the other victims were killed by a left-handed biter. The marks on her neck are on the right side. That means she was killed by a righty.”

“Um…what?”

Derrick stepped around the table and pulled Victoria to her feet. “I’m a righty. Let’s say for example I decided that I wanted to feed from you and I mean who could blame me? You’ve again decided to wear red even after what I told you about it.”

“It’s my favorite color.”

“I digress.” Pulling her roughly into his chest he allowed Victoria to watch his fangs lengthen to their fullest and started leaning forward.

“Oh my God, those things get longer?”

“They do indeed.”

“Wait what the hell are you doing?”

“Demonstrating what I mean.”

“I get the point.”

“Not yet,” he smirked and lowered his mouth to her throat.

“Derrick…” she cried in panic as she felt the cool touch of his lips against her skin but he didn’t stop there. Closing his mouth completely, his grip tightened on her arms and Victoria swallowed hard. “DERRICK!”

“Relax!” He jerked back with laughter as he watched her rub the spot his mouth rested. “I was only teasing. Besides, shouting the way you did strained your muscles. You actually pushed your vein into my mouth when you did it. You should be more careful with fear when a vampire has you in their sights; it makes for a much more appetizing meal.”

“Thanks; that’s nice to know.”

“Anytime!” He winked playfully and wiped his lips.

“So we’re looking for another killer.”

“Probably some low level fang piggybacking on your serial killer hoping to hide his messy meals.”

“Great, just what I needed. I don’t suppose your knowledge on eating habits can shed some light on this new player?”

“Not unless you want another demonstration,” Derrick replied and moved forward.

“No don’t even…” A loud thud smacked against Victoria’s glass doors and both she and Derrick turned towards the sound. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed and rushed towards the door. “Cole!”

“What the hell did he do that for?”

“I have no idea!” she yelled and pulled his head up from the ground and into her arms. “Help me get him to the couch.” Quickly Derrick pulled the man from the floor and carried him to the sofa as Victoria grabbed some ice from her freezer.

“You know I’ve seen birds do that countless times, suicide into windows or the sides of buildings. I didn’t know humans did it too, though I suppose it takes a certain kind.”

“Really, Derrick? Not helping!” she replied, softly dabbing the slow forming bruise on his forehead with the rag.

“Sorry, would you like me to grab more ice for the Douche? Maybe a side of cyanide pills to help in his quest? Plus, I’m sure they can fix headaches in no time flat.”

“DERRICK!” He shrugged and stepped away from the couch as Victoria continued caressing Cole’s hair and rubbing the cool rag over his face. Derrick sighed in frustration as he looked on. The tender way she cared over her ex’s injury stirred his green eyed monster if not making him a little angry. Moments later Cole’s eyes fluttered and he groaned as his hand went towards his head. “Hey there,” Victoria smiled down as he began to stir in her lap. “Welcome back. Are you ok?”

“What? What happened?” Cole asked looking between her and the man standing over her shoulder.

“You did a dolphin dive into the glass doors and knocked yourself unconscious like an idiot,” Derrick offered with a growl. Victoria sighed towards him again and he again backed away.

“You hit your head pretty hard, Cole. What do you remember?” Victoria asked as she continued stroking a hand through his hair. He winced in pain and slowly began to move.

Cole sat up and rubbed the back of his head and felt the makings of a bump just on the crown. “I…uh…I thought I saw him attacking you. I ran towards the door but didn’t realize it was locked and ran right into the glass. What the hell was that? What did I see? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, Cole, Derrick would never hurt me. He was just demonstrating a theory he had about our victim.”

“Your victim? What are you talking about? What victim? And how do you know he wouldn’t hurt you? You barely know him.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘barely’. I know a lot about Derrick and the kind of person he is. I trust him, Cole, and he would never do anything to harm me.”

“What do you know about this man? He’s just some stranger off the street that helped you on one case and all of a sudden you trust him? You’re friends?”

“Well it’s not as clear as it seems. It’s been more than one case and I…it’s complicated.”

“Then un-complicate it, Vik! You call me over to help you with something and when I arrive it looks as though this guy is trying to choke you and you can’t or won’t explain? Not good enough!”

Derrick stepped around the sofa towards Cole with a look of anger just behind his gray eyes. “Hey how about you back the hell off and calm down.”

“And how about you stay the fuck out of this? No one asked you to speak.”

“You’re right no one did. But if you’re not careful I could do a lot more than that!” Derrick growled balling his hands into tight fists and releasing them.

Cole looked down at the action and stood more erect. “Oh yeah? We’ll see about that tough guy, come on!” He egged the man on, motioning with his hands in a ‘bring it on’ gesture. “Let’s see what you got!”

“Derrick, don’t!” He smirked at Victoria and Cole prepared himself to strike and launched an uppercut towards his face. Derrick sidestepped Cole’s left handed throw with ease and slapped the back of his head producing a faint grunt of pain from him. “Cole, stop it! You’re already hurt!”

Ignoring Victoria’s pleas, he went after Derrick with a different swing and again the man was able to easily avoid Cole’s advances. Moving faster than Cole could have anticipated, or what was humanly possible, he pushed him lightly on the back and watched him fall flat on his face. “H-h-how did you? Y-y-you…that’s not possible…what the hell are you? You’re not human!”

“Right again!” Derrick smiled wide enough to allow Cole to see his fully extended fangs and watched as the man quickly backpedaled towards the patio door.

“DERRICK!”

“What the hell is that? Vik, did you see that?!”

“Yes, Cole, I saw it.”

“Then why the fuck aren’t you freaking out? How long have you known about this…this freak show?”

Derrick hissed and charged dead ahead towards Cole. “NO!” Victoria shouted as the men slammed through her coffee table shattering the glass and throwing papers everywhere. Derrick came up over Cole, lifting his hand in the air preparing to hammer the man with his fist. After some doing, she was finally able to pull Derrick off of Cole and push him away. “Don’t do this, please.”

“Y-y-you’re fucking crazy!” Cole stammered and climbed to his feet.

“Cole, no, it’s…he’s not out to harm us. I promise.”

“How can you promise that after what you just saw him do? Vik, let’s go. I’m getting you out of here.” She didn’t move as he stepped towards her front door. “Vik!”

“Cole, Derrick is my friend and I trust him.”

“Trust him? How can you trust something that’s…he…Victoria! Do you have any idea what you’re saying right now? You’re standing beside something that technically shouldn’t exist and don’t think it will harm you? He can’t be trusted! He’s a…he’s a…a monster! And you’re crazy if you stay here!”

“Cole, don’t go please. I need your help.”

“Then come with me. Or stay here with…that!”

Victoria glanced back towards Derrick who appeared to have calmed down dramatically and was casually leaning against her wall. “Cole, please just trust me, Derrick is a good man. As scary as things seem right now he’s saved my life a few times you have nothing to fear. And right now you’re asking me to choose between doing my job and violating my trust in a friend when there’s no threat here! I can’t do that.”

“Then you’ve made your decision.” He pulled open her door with force and walked out without so much as a goodbye and without looking back in her direction.

“Goodbye, Cole,” Derrick waved with a sardonic smile. “Don’t be a stranger.”

“Cole! Cole, wait!” Victoria shouted rushing after him. “Cole, please!” He hopped behind the wheel of his Jaguar and disappeared off of her street. “Dammit!” she grunted and slammed her door shut.

Derrick watched as Victoria paced the room a little bit, trying to get a clear read on her emotions as her bracelet fueled through a color frenzy. “I’m sorry about your coffee table,” he remarked in a gentle tone as she dropped onto her sofa with her head buried in her hands. “Don’t worry about Cole, he just needs some time to cool down, he’ll come around. Then again I could always compel him to forget this if you’d like.”

“No, Derrick, you’ve done enough already. The department’s laptop is completely ruined, there’s wine and bourbon on all of these documents and files and…ugh! This is physical evidence on these cases you know? If it gets destroyed suspects can walk! And I’ll probably have to reimburse them for this computer. Not to mention the fact that the evidence on it is compromised and possibly gone. Dammit, Derrick!”

“It wasn’t intentional, Victoria. You know if you’d like I could take the computer and see about having the information on it recovered. I have a friend who is pretty good with that kind of stuff.”

“No, just. Don’t.”

“And Cole?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been wondering how this thing would go with Mike or Cole now I kinda wanna see how it all plays out. Besides if it goes south who’s he gonna tell? No one would believe him right?” she laughed lightly but never looked up towards him.

“Still I think it’s best I keep an eye on him just in case,” Derrick replied and started for the door, watching for any change in the detective but still she sat motionless on the sofa. He opened his mouth to say something else but instead walked silently out the door while she seemed to forget about everything going on around her.

Continue---->