18: Bad Gets Worse – Pt. 1

“It’s going…going…gone! He hits another one out of the park!” Mike yelled and tossed a ball of paper into the bin beside the door.

“And the crowd goes wild!” Victoria joins and laughs as her partner stands from his desk and plays up to the imaginary fans cheering his name. “Mike, now that you’ve won the World Series, for the 4^th time in a row, what are you going to do next?”

“I’m…”

“He’s going to get his butt back in that chair and get to work,” Mason interrupted as he stepped out of his office starting towards the second floor lab.

“Way to kill the mood Cappy,” Mike growled and took his seat, joining Victoria in laughter. “It’s nice hearing that sound come from you Vik. It’s been too long since you’ve seemed happy.”

“I was thinking the same about you Mikey! These last few weeks have been hard for the both of us.”

“And that’s why the courage and support of a partner is always such a blessing. I’m glad you’re back. When Mason started talking about getting another body in here to fill your shoes I almost had a coronary; wasn’t pretty!”

“Aww Mike. What did I tell you about going soft? I don’t need none of that. I like my hard-assed, shit-talking partner. I’d have it no other way,” she smiled tenderly and noticed the slight blush on Mike’s face as he turned away.

“So uh, death on the subway; sounds a little too much like a bad Agatha Christie novel turned lifetime movie. Guy has a fight with his girlfriend so bad she kicks him out. While he’s taking the A train home he gets knifed in the back by the girlfriend’s ex in front of four other passengers on the train.”

“Oooh, an open and shut huh? Not bad to get the ball rolling fresh out of the gate. My first case back and it’s already solved.”

“Yeah, why can’t they all be that easy?”

“Because Michael my dear, we’d be out of a job. Come on, I’ll drive. We can stop off at Rodrigo’s truck and grab ourselves a burrito, my treat.”

“Yum! Heartburn on the run! Just what every cop needs!” Victoria grabbed her keys and made a beeline towards the garage. Sliding behind the wheel of her jeep she sped from the lot towards the crime scene, eager to get back into the game.

The clattering noises of the gathering crowds was nearly deafening as throngs of reporters clamored to get a shot of the scene for the evening news and equally as adamant officers fought to keep them back. Victoria and Mike passed through the first line of yellow tape and headed down the stairs to the train’s platform where Officer Bertram greeted them.

He smiled casually, placed his arms in front of him and informed Mike of the situation. “The body still on the scene?” Mike asked and peeked through the window behind him. He spotted a few other officers inside nosing around the area and frowned at the thought of them contaminating evidence as they got their ‘first look’. “Thank you, we’ll take it from here.”

The automatic door opened with a whir and Mike stepped through first. Flashing his gold badge at the small group of policemen he waited until their eyes fell on his. “Gentlemen, my partner and I would like to thank you for your eagerness but we don’t need four pairs of footprints trampling through our crime scene. Would you all be so kind and please exit this car.”

Under the grumbles of a few of the retreating men, Mike stepped across an evidence marker and made his way towards the back of the car. “Hey Turner,” he called to one of the guys who immediately stopped and turned to face him. “Hey I didn’t get a chance to thank you before and I know it’s a little late and all but what you did for me the night my niece went missing, I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah no worries about that. I’m only sad Briggs and I didn’t get there sooner. There’s no telling what went on in that place before we arrived. Has she said anything about what she may have witnessed?” Victoria studied the man’s face as he spoke to her partner. 

He glanced over at her, his eyes slowly combing over her entire body. Beneath the fiery glow of the overhead fluorescents, Victoria swore his appearance changed. Instead of the normal, slightly worn face of the officer she’d known for five years was that of a creature with eyes of red, bleeding and a visage gaunt and hollowed out. She gasped and took a step back nearly tripping over another marker and landing in a pool of blood. Officer Briggs noted the change in her behavior and moved forward with a look denoting concern. “Detective Carson are you ok?”

“Hmm? Yeah I’m…fine,” she replied eyeing Officer Turner once more whose attention had already returned to Mike’s. “Did you see…” her eyes fell on Briggs standing in front of her and she swallowed hard, biting down on her tongue to keep herself from screaming as his face as well turned into the grotesque distortion as Turner’s took just seconds before. Closing her eyes a moment she counted down from ten and exhaled slowly.

These were things she had oft times dreamt of but now they appeared to be making their way into her waking hours. “Detective?” She shook her head trying to clear it of the death gaze that seemed to burn through her and smiled.

“I’m fine Joe, thank you.”

“We’ll catch up later,” she heard Mike say and watched as Turner and Briggs started out of the car. 

“Oh hey guys,” she called stopping them hoping to settle the fear that slowly crept over her skin in the form of raised hairs and goosebumps. The temperature in the car lowered to a near freezing level and she rubbed a warm hand across her flesh to keep herself from shivering. The two men turned and to Victoria’s relief appeared normal, smiling warmly awaiting her to continue speaking. “I just wanted to say I’m glad nothing serious happened that night. After what we believe was an attempt by Calabrese on Mike’s life at his place added with the fact that you two went missing for over an hour, just glad you made it out unscathed.”

“Yeah,” Briggs laughed, his face as well as that of his partner’s twisted into the perverse and rotting flesh that caused Victoria to again gasp in horror. “We are no worse for the wear.” He attempted to smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. The look on Victoria’s face was off putting to them and they glanced between one another as she backed away towards Mike. “We’ll see you back at the house Detective. Watch your back out there.”

The words sounded more along the lines of a threat but all Victoria could do was simply nod. The officers exchanged whispers as they backed out of the car, glaring one last time in Victoria’s direction before disappearing into the crowd. “There’s a footprint in this blood. I wonder which one of the on calls did this.” Mike huffed glancing up at his partner after receiving no response. “Hey? Hello, Earth to Victoria.”

“What? Oh sorry,” she sighed and moved deeper into the car near him.

“Are you ok Vik?”

“Yeah I’m just not sleeping well these days.” She did her best to give him a reassuring smile and put her mind back on the case at hand. “Boot prints in the blood, yeah. The guy in custody is wearing Timberlands I would assume these were made by him; we can check his footwear to confirm it.” Victoria cleared her throat and focused her mind. She had work to do and no amount of bad voodoo was going to change that.

Heading home for the day, Victoria stopped off at the market to replace the foods that had soured or spoiled while she was on vacation in Cedar Grove. Realizing she hadn’t heard anything from Cole since she had been back, she made a mental note to give him a call and check on how he was doing. Asking for her key back was a step she intended to show her lack of interest in getting back with him. She never intended for him to believe she no longer wanted to be friends. 

Parking her jeep in the garage, she started for her front door and stopped dead in her tracks. “Derrick? You know if you keep this up I’m going to make you a cot in my garage to sleep on,” she paused momentarily to think. “Do vampires sleep?”

“When we’re not out plotting world disasters. We have to let you humans rest sometimes.”

“Right. What are you doing here?”

“I was curious how it went.” He replied moving forward and scooping her bags into his arms as she unlocked her front door.

“How what went?”

“Your conversation with your Mom. You talked to her right? Asked her about your powers and how to tap into them?”

Victoria pointed towards the counter and Derrick sat her bags down. “I don’t know how it would have gone. I didn’t call to talk to her.”

“What? Why not? Victoria this is really important!”

“That might be true Derrick but I don’t think this is the type of conversation one should have over the phone with someone who has no idea their child discovered their ultimate secret do you? And being back at work I haven’t exactly had the time to go running off halfway across the country to talk to her.”

“Oh so instead you’ve been coming up with as many excuses as possible to avoid the truth; that’s healthy,” he snarled and hopped up onto her counter. “You really shop a lot.”

“Well I’m not home as much as I’d like and that usually results in a lot of spoiled food. I really should invest in a preservation system so I’m not wasting so much money.”

“Hmm,” he sighed and sniffed an apple. “That might help. So I’ve noticed your boy toy hasn’t been around lately. I haven’t smelled him anyway and his overbearingly increased testosterone,” he smirked at himself feeling her pressure mount and juggled her tomatoes as she started putting her groceries away. Angering her was always a fun game for him and he always found new ways to get her riled up.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” she started and snatched her produce from his hands, “but Cole is a little upset with me right now.”

“Oh?”

“I asked him for my key back and he stormed out of here the night you brought me home; hasn’t been around since.”

“Gee I hope it was because of something I said,” he grinned at the scowl his comment produced and shrugged. “The guy was an arrogant prick. He had the nerve to roar at me like some territorial lion over you when all I did was give you a ride home and buy you dinner. Imagine what he’d have done if he knew I’d kissed you too!”

Victoria sighed in frustration and Derrick bit his tongue to keep his laugh in. “Do you get paid for this? Or is this part of your sadistic vampire nature, to torment and annoy eternally.”

“It keeps me entertained,” he shrugged casually. “Being around for a handful of centuries things can become a bit boring. I don’t know. Maybe I should be paying you for not going completely apeshit on me when I make your face get all red with anger.” He turned to look at her as she started in on the second bag and laughed finally. “That! That look right there!”

“You know when I do learn how to use this magic, the first thing I’m going to do is turn your irritating ass into a toad, extra warts.”

“And ruin this gorgeous face? You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me!” she smiled and toyed with the end of the bread wrapper on the counter. “Hey can I ask you something?” Derrick waved his hand in an ‘ask away’ gesture and Victoria sighed as she remembered the faces of the men from work earlier. “Um, is it possible for dreams to become real? Not like Freddy Kruger coming after you in your sleep kind of thing. I mean um manifestations of monsters being reality.”

“There are cases where a person can envision something so real and so frightening that it causes them to hurt themselves mirroring what their minds play out in dreams. But as far as physical manifestations? No, I’ve never heard of anything like that. Why do you ask?” 

“I saw something today, something that seemed really strange. I say today but I’ve been seeing things ever since you took me to Dante’s and I haven’t been able to explain any of it. There are these creatures and I know they aren’t real, they can’t be real. But then I think ok well you’re a vampire and you’re real so I don’t know maybe?”

“Victoria,” Derrick sighed and waved his hands in a calming gesture, asking her to relax. “Take a breath and talk like a sane person for me please.”

She laughed and rubbed a hand over her face as she looked at him. “Sane? Right, ok. Is it sane to tell you that today I saw the faces of two of the men I work with change into something that can’t be real? Their mouths looked like the dried remains of a skeleton, empty and hollow. Their eyes were dark, red slits that appeared just as concave and they were bleeding. ”

“A Wraith.”

“A what?”

“Wraith; a type of harbinger or vengeful spirit that takes the form of the deceased yet remains on this plane in hopes of exacting some form of revenge or causing chaos in general. Normally I’d tell you it’s nothing to worry about, wraiths usually go after those that have wronged them. But if you’re seeing them then that means someone could very well have paid or possessed them to act in the role of assassin.”

“To kill me?” she asked rubbing her neck as she replayed the last words spoken to her. “If I’m not mistaken, Briggs did threaten me. He told me to ‘watch my back’ but the way he said it made my blood run cold.”

“In which case we’re not dealing with your average run of the mill wraith. It’s a more along the lines of a body jumper or even a ghoul.”

“Great; just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water.”

“What?”

“Nothing; guess I’ll hit the books and see what I can find later.” Victoria finished putting away her groceries and noticed the can of peanuts had the same amount it did when she left for Cedar Grove. “Did Vex not come over the day I left?”

“Vex? Oh yeah your ridiculous name for the Raven. Beats me. I wasn’t lurking around your place. There’s no need for me to come over when my favorite person to annoy isn’t home. Besides I came for you the moment I felt you press your panic button.”

Victoria’s eyes went to the red circle bracelet on her wrist and she frowned. “Yeah about that, how do I get this thing off exactly?”

“You don’t. That’s my promise to you. The only way to remove the bindings and sever the connection you have to your vampire, that would be me, is if I die. And since that won’t happen anytime soon, you’re stuck with it until the day you die.”

“Derrick!”

“What? I at least picked one that was your favorite color AND looks trendy enough to be worn daily. I like to think I have style. What do you think? This shirt is new by the way. I think green is my color, what about you?” He struck a pose and waited for Victoria to critique his attire before giving in with a conceited smirk. “You’re tired. You must have had a long day. You don’t seem in the mood to humor me.”

“No my day was actually pretty simple. I’m just thinking about the placement of your warts. You’re right; green is definitely your color.” She laughed at the pout on his face, placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a light shove towards the door. “It’s about my bedtime Mr. Constantine. I do appreciate you stopping in but unlike you I have no time for plotting evil right now, my shower and pillow are calling my name.”

“You sure you don’t want some company? I hear I’m a great snuggler!” he snickered hearing her grunt behind him. “Fine, have it your way but you don’t know what you’re missing. Sweet dreams Victoria,” Derrick turned with a smile and a gentleman’s bow and Victoria locked her door behind him. She spent the next twenty minutes beneath the hot spray of water in her shower until the head sprouted cold and got herself ready for bed. It didn’t take very long before her eyes were closed tight and she was sleeping soundly in bed.

But the dreams were anything but sweet. Seconds after her eyes shut Victoria was plagued with a series of images depicting a brutal blood ritual somewhere deep in the woods. Almost instantly she recognized the area as the rock pit near her family’s cabin but she had no idea who the people were that gathered around the area or why she could feel every cut sliced into the young girl’s arm.

Crying in pain as the dagger was again run across the smooth flesh of her chest and upper thigh, Victoria found herself screaming at the women draped in white torturing the girl over the bed of moss and assorted herbs. It seemed dark; the ritual. The ones committing the act were chanting something in Gaelic as far as she could recognize and the brutalization of the woman over the pits had only just begun.

What scared her the most was the fact that she felt connected to what was unfolding before her eyes. The stinging tears of the girl on the table, the fear behind her eyes and torment of not knowing what was coming next all felt real. Stepping closer, she felt weightless; floating. An unseen force was carrying her feet towards the scene and as much as she only wanted to turn away from it and run, she found her eyes fixed on the scene and suddenly she realized why she felt everything that was happening. The girl lying on the table in front of her was her! 

The bracelet on Victoria’s wrist tightened as the woman standing at the top of the platform began trying to remove it from her prone body. After a few more words the binds cinched into her skin, the ends entangled with her veins and became a part of her. The woman grunted in obvious frustration as one of the others in her company handed her the dagger again. Raising it above her head, she wasted no time plunging the bloody dagger into her stomach.

“NO!” Victoria gasped and sat straight up on her bed. Breathing heavily and sweating profusely, she rubbed a hand over her belly checking herself for the injury and happily finding none. The dream seemed so real she was almost sure it was her it was happening to. The women were witches of some sort that much she was sure of. But the act they were performing was a mystery. After convincing herself it was only a dream, Victoria started to roll over to get back to sleep and that’s when she saw it. A three inch cut across her left arm just above her bracelet. The blood had coagulated but the wound was still very fresh.

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