10: Murder in the First-Degree Pt. 3

“Here, birdy, birdy,” Victoria called as she set a bowl of peanuts, corn flakes and strawberries beneath her garage door. “Come on, birdy, I know you’re here.” She pulled a small ladder from the garage and climbed to the top rung. Peeking her head above the roof she checked for a nest hoping her little friend had started building a home. Victoria sighed in disappointment not finding anything and started on her way down.

“What are you doing?” a luxuriously rich voice sounded behind her causing her to lose her balance and fall. Victoria turned in time to see Derrick sauntering up the driveway toward her. That famously sexy smirk was plastered on his face as he came to a rest just beside the garage door.

“I’m looking for something,” she growled and pulled her hands from the ground brushing the dirt off of them.

“A bird? Is it your pet?”

“No, actually it’s more of a stalker I’d say.”

“Ha! A stalker? Boy you seem rather fixated on that word, Detective.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well as I recall when we first met you accused me of ‘stalking’ you to a few places. And now it seems you’re pinning that same word to some poor, defenseless animal. What gives? You couldn’t make me out to be the panty sniffing, picture taking psycho you were hoping to so you’ve moved down in species?”

“A Raven, Derrick, would be moving UP in species in your case and no, to answer your question. I am not fixated on stalkers. My expertise relies on those who murder.”

“Ah. Then would it make you feel better if I went out and stabbed someone? By the way, if your bird friend is male, it’s not going to build a nest that’s a woman’s work; unless he was out to impress some chick. Cute slippers. A little late in the day to still be in your PJs though.”

Victoria sized the man up as he amused himself with her predicament and sighed. Reaching out her hand, she waited for Derrick to help her to her feet and slowly backed away. “What are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come by again.”

“You did. But I need your help.”

“Don’t you read the papers, Derrick? I’m not a detective at present. I’ve been suspended from duty until…”

“That’s what I came by for. I know all about your situation and figured I could offer you my expertise.”

 Victoria burst into a fit of laughter at his words and shook her head no. “Derrick, thank you but no. Unless you know a great lawyer I don’t think you can help me.”

“I actually know several but you don’t need a lawyer. You need a bargaining chip.” When she shot him a curious look, he continued. “Sketch is the one that’s causing your trouble, Victoria.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I just do. And if you want to keep him from completely ruining your career, you’ll trust me.”

“Trust you? Derrick, if what you’re saying is true then this is happening to me BECAUSE I ‘trusted’ you before on the case that locked Sketch behind bars! How can you ask me to do that again?”

“Because I’ve never purposely caused you any harm. I needed your help but it was never my intention for your assistance to get you mixed up with my mess.”

“And what exactly is this ‘mess?’ Or let me guess, you can’t tell me but Sketch is just not the typical bad guy. Seriously, Derrick, the way you talk about that guy it’s like he’s some otherworldly God or superhuman or something.” Derrick shot her a knowing look and Victoria sighed heavily. “Right. Whatever. Look, you said you could help me but I’m not real sure I even want your help.”

“You will. If Sketch gets what he’s after then…you’re the only one who can do anything to stop him.”

“What is with the constant vagueness and double talk with you? What is Sketch after? How can I stop him? And what the hell do you expect me to do when I’m on suspension?”

“You have so much to learn. But I promise you, by the end of this whole ordeal, you’ll know plenty. Whether or not you’ll want to will be completely up to you. Now, shall we go inside and discuss this?” Victoria turned on her heels and walked forward toward her patio door.

Derrick removed the bowl from by the garage and started behind her. “Hey what are you doing? That’s not for you!”

He grinned inwardly, plucked a berry from the dish and popped it into his mouth. “That bird won’t eat it, trust me. It doesn’t have the right…proteins.”

“What? That is a well-balanced meal for a Raven, I looked it up! It has grains, fruit AND protein! Peanuts are packed full of proteins and those are unsalted!”

“Great. You’ll save the poor thing a trip to the ER for high blood pressure but he still won’t eat it. I, on the other hand, skipped breakfast and I need to move my mouth to stave off my appetite.”

Victoria mumbled something about ‘bottom feeders’ and led the way inside. “I’m going to get changed, wait here.”

“There’s no need for that, Detective. You look fine in what you have on,” Derrick teased and eyed her intently making her shrink beneath his stare before laughing it off.

Victoria moved toward her stairs in a huff. “I’ll be right back.” 

Moments later she returned in a red cotton top, dark blue denim stretch pants and a black leather jacket to find Derrick in her kitchen. “What are you doing?” He motioned with the bowl in his hand and started rinsing it beneath the faucet. “Oh. Thank you. Alright now tell me why you believe Sketch is involved in this IAD investigation.”

“Besides the fact that you sent him away for first degree murder and he threatened you in open court? You have something that he needs and he won’t stop until he gets it.” Her cell phone rang and she looked around the room for it. “It’s upstairs,” Derrick replied and Victoria started for it.

She grabbed the sleek, black device from her bedside table before it could stop ringing and listened to Mike on the other end. He was frantic and upset and she did her best to calm him down. “What?! None of that is true!”

“They are building a case against you right now, Vik. Has anyone from their department contacted you at all?”

“No. The only one I’ve heard from on a regular since the suspension is you. I can’t believe this is happening! Is IAD checking on the merit of these complainants?”

“That’s the fucked-up thing, they are ALL behind bars currently except one. She is the sister of this last creep you locked away! If IAD did their job they’d see what I see. That asshole threatened your life, threatened to ruin you if it was the last thing he did and then these complaints pop up? It is NOT coincidence!”

“Yeah, I know. And what’s worse is if I try and investigate this myself, they’ll accuse me of tampering with the evidence or witnesses again. It sucks that I can’t even come to my own defense,” Derrick walked into the room behind Victoria and leaned against the dresser as she concluded her conversation. “Well anyway, thanks for the heads up, Mike. Maybe Mason will be able to do something now since it sounds like they are moving forward with criminal proceedings. I’ll check in later. Thanks again.” She clicked the ‘end’ button and set the phone back on the table. 

“Everything ok?” he asked with a tenor of concern in his voice.

“No, actually. I think everything is worse now. From the sounds of things, I’m losing my badge permanently. By the way how did you know my phone…?” She turned to face Derrick and jumped back with a start. “What the hell is that?” Victoria shouted pointing toward him as he stood near her bureau.

“What? What’s wrong? You see something?”

“No! And that’s the problem! Where the hell is your reflection? And what’s wrong with your face?” Derrick’s hand moved toward his mouth and he felt the sharp ends of his twin companions poking out of his gums. He looked up in surprise at Victoria and quickly tried to calm her down.

“Wait, I can explain.”

“Explain? You’re…you…are you…dead?”

“Well, I think the proper term for my kind is ‘undead,’ but…”

“Holy fuck!” she charged toward her door but before she got a foot near it, Derrick was on her and pinning her against the wall. “Oh my, God! You’re…you can’t be! Things like this don’t exist. What did you do to me? Wait, I must be dreaming, this isn’t real or…you drugged me!”

“No, I didn’t drug you and no you’re not dreaming, Victoria. You’re really here standing in your bedroom with a vampire.”

“What? That’s crazy! That’s impossible! Geez, I knew you were a fucking psycho. Get off of me!”

He turned her around to face him but kept her hands pinned above her head. “Think about it, Victoria. How did I always disappear on you? How did I always know where you were? Why was I cold to you when our hands touched? How could I be shot in the chest and not die? You’ve known there was something off but you just didn’t look deeper.”

Victoria struggled to free herself but Derrick displayed incredible strength and kept her restrained beneath him effortlessly. “Victoria, calm down! I’m not going to hurt you! Please, just listen to me.” He continued to hold her tight against the door as he spoke soothingly in her ear. “Now I’m going to back away from you slowly. But you have to promise me you won’t run and you won’t scream. Can you promise me that?” She nodded her head hastily and Derrick began to pull away.

The moment there was enough room between them Victoria gripped the handle of her bedroom door and ran free from the room. “Stay away from me!” she shouted and rushed down the stairs toward her front door.

“Victoria!” Derrick hurried after her. Jumping over the banister, he landed on both feet in front of her blocking her path toward the exit. “You promised me!”

“I lied!” She growled and folded her hands into her chest. A small pout pursed her lips and Derrick fought back a laugh as he watched the stubborn detective.

“Are you ok now?”

“No, I’m not ok! You’re a…how is this possible?”

“If you calm down, I will explain it to you. But if you want to continue running around and screaming well…,” he glanced toward her coat rack and noticed the shiny objects sitting on the sideboard and grinned. “I could always cuff you.”

“Yeah, and that’ll make me trust you.”

“You never know,” he shrugged casually and took a step toward her. “You might end up liking it.” Victoria took a deep breath and slowly released it as she continued to stare at the sharp teeth on either side of Derrick’s jaw. Noticing her gaze, he ran his tongue over them and smirked. “Shall we?” Derrick pointed toward the den and Victoria started forward.

 

Taking a seat on the far end of the sofa, she readied herself for whatever it was Derrick had to tell her, or to run if needed. He dropped heavily on the sofa beside her, placed an amulet on the table and leaned back. “This is what Sketch is after. Have you ever seen it before?” She shook her head no as she studied the object. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ve never seen that before in my life. What is it?”

“It’s the Sun Strike talisman from the Whey family. It’s one link in a chain of seven that are necessary to end the threat to the mortal realm.”

“Um…what?”

“A talisman. It’s an object believed to bestow supernatural powers or protection on its bearer; luck, good or bad or…”

“Yeah, I know what a talisman is, Derrick. What I don’t get is this ‘threat to the mortal realm’ crap you’re talking about.”

“Bear with me, Victoria. The Cult of the Damned is an underground sect of supernatural beings hell-bent on world domination and destruction. Most mortals refer to these people as demon worshippers given that they practice human sacrifice and other black magic. But since the dawn of time armies of these immortals have been plaguing the earth and humankind twisting souls, manipulating dark arts and even spiritual possessions all for one purpose; to bring about The Destroyer from the Dark Reaches.”

“The Destroyer? As in the Devil?”

“No, as in the Destroyer,” he smiled and shook his head toward her.

“Derrick…” 

“The Destroyer is an all-powerful, old-world creation that is said to possess the energy of the elements and harnesses the ability to manipulate them at will. He was born a mortal but became well-versed in the arts of black magic and necromancy. But as you may have learned in history class with the Salem Witch Trials, this type of witchcraft was considered sacrilegious and outlawed. The Destroyer started a chapter for others like him to assemble and practice in the town of Ember Lake. They would meet in underground chambers.”

“Like the Catacombs in Paris?”

Derrick nodded and continued. “They created a lot of their meeting places beneath cemeteries and churches. Sacred grounds were needed to perform certain rituals and this also allowed them the privacy to do what they wanted; outside of funerals NO ONE visited the graveyards. Anyway, The Destroyer was becoming too powerful. It’s said that he made a deal for everlasting life in exchange for his mortal soul and the others in his group were becoming fearful of him.”

“And let me guess, the members of this ‘Cult of the Damned’ all wanted out and tried to get rid of their leader.”

“Exactly. There was an uprising. The members of his cult revolted against him. Their stake in the group was for knowledge, not anarchy as it became known was The Destroyer’s sole purpose. He wanted to punish the people he held responsible for his persecution and the deaths of his family members. But with the promise of wealth, power, and the respect that comes with it, he was corrupted; dark days lied ahead for the Cult.”

“Ok I don’t understand. If they were practicing together, how did this one Destroyer become ‘all-powerful’?”

“By killing off members of the cult. So that no man was considered more important or powerful than the other, each of the original members was given a talisman, like this one, for use during their rituals. Each of the amulets contained its own power unique to its bearer and could only be harnessed by someone of his bloodline. The Destroyer methodically murdered each of the immediate heirs and stole the talismans for himself. He was just a spell away from discovering how to unite all seven of them when he was enshrined in stone and locked beneath the streets of Ember Lake by subsequent members of the families.”

“Interesting. Now what does any of this little fairy tale of yours have to do with me or Sketch?”

“Because the Cult of the Damned is still in operation. People like Sketch have made it their goal to find all of these talismans and release The Destroyer from his tomb. You became involved once I realized who you were.”

“What do you mean who I am?”

“What do you know about your family’s history, Victoria?”

“Uh no, absolutely not.” She eyed the talisman sitting on the table and shook her head. “No, there’s no way you’re about to tell me this has anything to do with me. My family is normal not…”

“Freaks? Monsters? Psychotic Demon Worshippers?”

“That’s not what I was going to say.”

“Sorry. It’s just the first reaction I get usually when mortals learn what I am.”

“Yeah, about that, you never mentioned how it happened or…how old are you?”

“I am 417 years young but I don’t look a day over 25,” he replied with a cocky grin.

“Well, the varicose veins would argue with that statement. Why have I never noticed those before?”

“Because, Detective, whenever I encountered you, I always made sure I’d fed first. Usually, I have my appetite under control but…have I mentioned how nice you look in red?” Victoria slid away making Derrick laugh. “I’m kidding, Victoria, really.”

“That is NOT funny!”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I’m not interested in feeding from you though. You’re safe.” She frowned and a somewhat hurt sigh puffed from her nostrils as she did a quick odor and style check of her person to ensure she wasn’t offensive. Derrick grinned inwardly at her expression and leaned closer toward her. “It’s not that I wouldn’t, I’m just conscious about my…diet.”

“What does that mean? You don’t eat people?”

“Well I’ve never ‘eaten’ anyone. But to answer more directly I don’t drink straight from the vein if I can help it.”

Victoria let his words sink in as she chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. She hoped the meaning behind them meant she was safe in his company. He hadn’t done anything as of yet to harm her and even took a bullet to the chest for her; not very many men could say they’ve done that and ‘lived.’ “Soo…how did it happen?”

“I think that’s a conversation best left for another time,” he replied standing and she quickly followed suit.

“Are there other um…” she motioned with her hands at him trying to find the word but her mind still seemed to deny the existence of such a creature even with it standing in front of her.

“Monsters?”

“Vampires, out there? You don’t think highly of yourself, do you? Or are you just expecting that I’ll call you out of your name?”

“You mean like ‘stalker,’” Derrick smiled widely and folded his hands into his chest.

“Yeah, and I wasn’t wrong about that! You have been stalking me!” Victoria replied jumping at him as she realized why she’d seen him everywhere.

“It was for a good cause. After our initial contact, I realized you had no idea what was really out there. From then on, I knew you needed to be protected. If I could figure out who you were so could others. And trust me, Detective,” he sighed and leaned into her ear. Tucking a strand of hair over her shoulder he smiled at her and gently caressed her cheek. “Not all of us have good intentions.” 

Her eyes met his and he watched as she took in every breath slowly. Her heart beat was steady, temperature normal. Any fear she felt about what he was had long since vanished and she had accepted what he was telling her. Derrick pulled back with a sigh and scooped up the talisman from the table. “You’re curious.”

“It’s my nature.” Her eyes again moved toward his mouth and she studied the fangs once more on each point of his jaw with a sigh. “Are you…are those…those are real, aren’t they?”

Derrick lifted his thumb to his right fang and rubbed it lightly over the tip. Instantly a spot of blood appeared as the sharp tooth easily ripped through the thin skin of his digit. “As real as they come; and they’re hungry. Come on. I want to take you somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Someplace fun where you can see for yourself what’s really out there.”

Victoria paused before taking a step forward and glanced at the man in front of her. “Derrick?”

“Yes?”

“Earlier you said you had to move your mouth to stave off your hunger, did you mean…me?”

He grinned showing off his fangs once more and pulled her toward the front door. “Come on, let’s get a move on.”

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