31: I Fall to Pieces – Pt. 1

“I’m walking out my door as we speak,” Victoria spoke into the microphone of her earpiece as she juggled her bags and an evidence box in her hands and opened her front door to find Cole standing on her stoop with a smile. “Uh Mike, I’ll see ya when I get to work alright? Cole!”

“Hey!” he grabbed the box from her hands and started towards her car with her.

“Hey! It’s been a while since you’ve dropped by. How are you?”

“I’m doing fine. I took an extended leave from work after the whole depression thing which I’m still surprised happened to me but I’ve slowly been getting back into the swing of things.” Victoria smiled and nodded as she listened to Cole explain the scenario Derrick placed in his head about how things went down with Tessa.

After finishing her off, he’d led Cole to believe that he’d had a spell of depression after a nasty breakup and began ignoring work and his friends and obvious household chores. He also told him that his girlfriend dumped him because he wasn’t able to satisfy her in bed. Victoria suspected he did so partly because Cole irked him the first time they’d met but he had already implanted the memory before she could stop him. “So how have you been?” he asked once slipping the box into her backseat.

“Not bad actually. Closing cases like normal and keeping my head down. Oh and I found my grandmother!”

“Really? That’s great! Is she everything you remember?”

“There are a few errant memories here and there but for the most part, she’s everything I’d hoped she would be.” She glanced at her feet as she toyed with her key ring and sighed. “Listen, Cole, I’d love to play catch up right now but I have to get to work.”

“I understand. I was hoping I could maybe catch you when you weren’t busy; say later tonight or tomorrow? We could have dinner and just talk, as friends.”

“Absolutely, I’d love to. Mike and I are wrapping a case up today so I should be free later on. Give me a call about six and I’ll let ya know.”

“It’s a date!” he beamed and closed her jeep door as she slid behind the wheel. “I’ll see you later tonight.” Cole watched as Victoria pulled out of her yard and soon disappeared around the corner before hopping into his Jaguar and heading home.

Work she found amazingly enough was easy. She and Mike spent the majority of their time ensuring their case notes were in order for the upcoming trial and reviewing witness statements with the D.A. By the time six o’clock rolled around, her phone was buzzing and she knew immediately who it was. With a smile in her voice, she told Cole she would be home and changed in a few. Cole took her to one of his favorite restaurants, Scalini Fedeli, and told her to order whatever she’d liked.

After fixing her eyes back into her head from seeing the prices, she ordered the pan roasted chicken breast with Italian sausage in a rosemary and garlic sauce served over broccoli di rapa and orrichiette pasta. While Cole had the roasted rack of lamb over orange scented carrots in a balsamic and garlic flavored lamb sauce. It was a nice night and Cole insisted on sitting out on the terrace overlooking the lake. He’d called ahead to make arrangements and ensure the two would have complete privacy.

“I fell apart,” he started as he watched her enjoy her meal. “And I’m beyond lucky and appreciative I had someone like you there to help me through my darkest time. Victoria, I cannot apologize enough for the way I treated you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, Cole, I mean friends argue all the time and I’m a big girl, I think I handled it well,” she smiled and took a sip of her wine.

“You certainly did. So tell me more about your grandmother, what’s she like?”

“She’s so sweet, just like you’d imagine a grandmother should be you know one of those perfect ones from like sitcoms and made-for-TV Hallmark movies. She’s incredibly funny; absolutely hilarious you’d love her. And her cookies are to die for! I cannot believe my Mom kept her away from me all this time!”

“She sounds great. You’d better be careful, I might just have to steal her.”

“Well then I’d better keep her locked away in my closet then. It’s bad enough I have to compete with Derrick for her attention sometimes.”

“Derrick?” Victoria gulped down a large sip realizing she’d mentioned his name so casually to Cole. “You mean that guy is still hanging around? I’d have thought you’d have wrapped everything up by now with the case he was helping you with. Are you two…dating or something?”

“No we’re just friends.”

“But he’s met your long lost grandmother? Has Mike?”

“No, just Derrick.”

“I see.” The conversation died down as Cole played with the remaining food on his plate and Victoria tried to decide how best to continue their evening. She knew Derrick was a sore subject and did her best all night not to mention his name. But now here they were and there was no getting around it. The wind seemed to blow harder on the terrace and the silk curtains hanging around them whisked freely about causing the flames of the candles to flicker. 

“Cole, I…”

“It’s none of my business, Vik. Feds have CIs too. It just comes with the job I guess and there’s always a danger of getting too close to them. But you should be careful, Victoria. Most of them usually have hidden agendas.” CI? Victoria thought but just smiled and nodded, happily moving passed this conversation. There was no way she could tell Cole the truth about Derrick, at least not now so Confidential Informant it was. “So uh when do I get to meet the Grams?”

“She lives in Danbury but whenever you want to make the trip, I’m sure she’d be accommodating. Plus it’ll give her a reason to cook which she seems to really enjoy.”

“Good. Does she take requests?” Victoria laughed and nodded her head as the waitress came around to check on them and ask if they wanted dessert. Cole waited for Victoria to answer before requesting the bill. “Thank you for coming out with me tonight. I wasn’t sure if you would want to or not after everything.”

“Cole, we’re still friends regardless of what happened or happens a true friend will always have your back; you should know that.”

“Yeah? Tell that to Thomas. From what I understand I missed so much time at work he decided it was best he transfer departments and get himself a new partner. To be honest I have no idea how I was able to even keep my position or job for that matter if I really missed as much as I’m told.” Victoria smiled inwardly and thanked Derrick for convincing Cole’s bosses to keep him on. If he ever knew what the “CI” did for him, perhaps it would change his views on him completely.

“You look amazing tonight,” Cole remarked as they pulled up to her place and he hurried around to her door to open it for her.

“Thank you,” she smiled, taking his hand. From the corner of her eye she saw her favorite little visitor circle over the garage and held her arm out for him. “There’s my handsome fella.”

“Geez,” Cole gasped and took a step back as the large bird circled over his head, “you have a pet Raven?” he asked, watching as the bird took to Victoria, nestling itself between the two as he leaned closer to inspect it. 

“Kind of.”

“Ow.” Vex pecked at Cole’s hand as he reached out to touch his feathers and Victoria apologized.

“I’ve never seen him be aggressive.”

“I guess that means he really likes me then huh?”

“Or your cologne is just bothering him.”

“What? I thought you liked this cologne,” Cole pouted playfully.

“I do but animals are a little more sensitive to smells,” she smiled and turned her attention back to the raven. “Vex comes and goes as he pleases but seems to really like my house for some reason; maybe it’s the fruit bowl I leave out for him every now and again. Either way, he’s proven to be great company on nights it gets lonely up here.”

“Well you know if you ever want company you could always just give me a call. I miss our movie nights.”

“Maybe.” Vex squawked loudly in Cole’s direction before lifting himself off of Victoria’s arm. Circling once more over her head, he disappeared behind the house and Cole walked her to her front door. “Thank you for dinner, it was great catching up with you.”

“Yeah I enjoyed it; reminded me of old times. If you’re not busy on Friday, perhaps we could do it again?”

“We’ll see, Cole.” He leaned forward for a kiss and Victoria quickly turned her head for his lips to connect with her cheek. Cole sighed with a disappointed frown and backed away from the door, gazing at Victoria for a moment. “Was there something else?” she asked curiously as he seemed to be lost in thought.

“I was actually wondering something about you, about us, um…when we were together.”

“Ok,” she replied and waited for him to find his words.

“When we, the sex between us wasn’t bad, right? I mean I got you off right? You enjoyed it? I mean I think you did, you really seemed to and I don’t think you were…faking it.” When she didn’t answer he quickly tried to smooth over the question. “I’m just…I-I was curious I mean. I’ve been having some self doubt as of late and I don’t…I mean…well?”

“Uh, Cole, I don’t really think this is an appropriate topic for conversation with us anymore. I just want us to be friends.”

“I know and I’m not asking so we can get back together I’m I just…I think I’m losing it.” Victoria sighed and looked up at the Raven circling the garage and shrugged.

“I guess, Cole. I mean it was good. I never had any complaints.”

“Good, that’s…that’s good. So it wasn’t me.”

“What?”

“Uh, nothing…nothing,” he smiled and slowly moved away from the door. “Sweet dreams, Vik.”

“Goodnight, Cole.”

He waited until she was locked up inside before starting down the driveway to his Jaguar. Reaching the driver’s door, he noticed a large, white stain on the windshield and cussed at Vex who sat just above him on the garage door. Stupid bird! It even looked to be laughing at him.

Victoria turned out the last light in the hallway as she slipped into her pajamas and started for bed, the comforts of her silky goose down calling for her. Ensuring the window was opened just in case Vex needed a place to lay his head also, she slid beneath her sheets and quietly fell asleep.

Glass breaking downstairs stirred Victoria from slumber and she pulled out of the bed to investigate. Unlocking her gun box, she grabbed it from its case and slowly descended the stairs in search of the noise. Carefully she checked in and around the living room and dining areas before moving on to the kitchen. There on the floor near the sink she found a broken water glass that had fallen from the counter and shattered into a few pieces. “Great,” she huffed, placing her weapon on the countertop as she grabbed the broom and dustpan to clean up the mess.

She dropped the shards into the trashcan, rinsed her hands and started back to bed noticing the clock read 2:04 a.m., awakened once again at the exact same time. Victoria turned over to keep the blinking digits out of her eyes and saw her bedroom window opened much wider than she’d left it for Vex. “What the…?” she started and sat up but didn’t get far before a large figure dove at her, tackling her back into the bed as his hands closed around her neck.

Victoria fought back, gouging at the man’s eyes with her fingers and kicking wildly to turn herself over and get him from off of her. “Corpus tuum ad terram redit!” he yelled, adding more pressure onto her throat as he leaned forward. The crazy gaze in his eyes panicked Victoria and she struggled to free herself as she felt the air escape her lungs. “Exterminatore rursum vivet!”

Using all of her strength, Victoria jabbed the man with a hard uppercut causing him to fall back an inch or two but it did little in releasing the clutch he had on her neck. Frantically her eyes searched the table beside her bed for anything she could use as a weapon, her hands moving urgently to open the drawer and retrieve her service pistol. But there was no escape, there was no way out. She needed to get away, she had to. As every second passed slowly her panic grew more intense and she tried again to force his hands away, to breathe. Her lungs burned in her ribs and her vision started to blur.

“We’re too close now, we won’t be stopped! Die witch!” the man growled as his fingers tightened around Victoria’s neck. His hands were like a vice, squeezing and wrenching deeper. She choked harder as her lungs desperately fought for a breath, her nails were covered in blood from the constant clawing at the thick paws covering her throat. Thrashing wildly beneath his grip only worked to hasten the air from her lungs, her legs finally gave up the fight. Energy spent, tiny lights flickered in front of her eyes; her world was spinning. Death was imminent.

And as a world of darkness took over, her body growing limp, a faint object fluttered into the room through the opened window and all at once a large form lunged forward tackling the man off of her chest. Instantly Victoria sat up gasping for a breath as her lungs began to expand again with the sweet, cool mists of air filling her throat. The soreness of her neck was forgotten momentarily as she took in the sight of the two men wrestling on her bedroom floor at the foot of her bed. 

A heavy thud and grunts of pain passed briefly in the dim room as one of the figures rolled back towards her bed and stood. She pushed the light on above her head and took in Derrick’s tall stature just at her feet. “Are you ok?” Scared and confused eyes pinned him in place as she rubbed a light hand over her throat. Seeing the cloaked man dead on her floor her cop brain began trying to figure out how this was going to be explained. She had to call it in; otherwise it was covering up a homicide. “Victoria, are you ok?” Derrick repeated as she looked up at him once more.

The ringing in her ears was no longer as pronounced once her heart settled within her chest and her breathing returned to normal. She nodded her head and spoke in a grating voice to answer his question. Derrick rushed towards her bathroom and poured her a glass of water that she nodded a thanks for. “Sip slowly; it’s going to hurt for a bit to swallow.”

“Who is he?” she asked feeling the cool water slip appreciatively down her throat soothing the sore muscle.

“Uh from the getup he’s wearing I’d say an Initiate; low member of the Cult of the Damned. Did he say anything to you?”

“In between the yelling and gibberish, Latin I think, he said something about being too close to stop.”

“That was too close. I should have been here sooner. If there had been more…”

“Vex,” she replied in a raspy tone, her voice like sandpaper as irritated eyes caught him once more. “All this time?”

“I can explain that, Victoria.”

“So it’s true? I really did see you fly into my bedroom as Vex?”

“Yes, but…”

“How could you not tell me? I invited you into my home! You were here nearly every night and…I talked to you. I shared a lot of private things with you, Derrick, and all this time?!”

“I-it’s not what you think!”

“How could you do that to me? You ask for my trust and then…I need you to go.”

“Wait please just listen to me.”

“I think you’ve said enough.”

“What about him?”

“I can handle it.”

“You can’t just call this in like a normal crime without a lot of questions being asked,” Derrick reasoned.

“I said I got it!”

“Victoria?”

“LEAVE!” She yelled, feeling the force rip the sensitive muscle of her throat as she turned her back to him. The sound of flapping startled her slightly as he shifted again and exited through the window.

Victoria fell to her bed, eyes glancing down at the intruder lying dead on her floor with thoughts on the man who’d left him there. She was hopelessly stuck between being grateful he was around to save her life and being angry over the idea that he was the bird that frequented her company at night.

Grabbing the spellbook from her nightstand, Victoria conjured a banishing spell to remove the cultists’ body:

“Goddess of the Moon hear my demand,
send this corpse back to his land.
What is dark be filled with light
remove this spirit from my sight.”

She watched as a bright yellow light encircled the man’s body lifting him from the ground before vanishing completely, taking his corpse with it. With an uneasy sigh, her fingers touched the bruised flesh of her throat. Things were becoming crazy and dangerous now that she and Derrick had started their pursuit of the talismans. It was what Loretta warned her would happen. And now that they knew where she lived, she anticipated even more trouble would find its way to her doorstep.

The next morning Victoria opened her front door to find Derrick sitting on her stoop with a saddened look in his eyes. “Hey, can we talk?” he asked and followed behind her towards her truck. She ignored his question and tossed her things into the passenger side door before circling around to the other side. “Victoria, please? There’s a very good explanation about last night and what you saw, I just need you to hear me out,” he begged, stepping in her way to keep her from getting into the jeep.

“Get out of my way, Derrick, or so help me…”

“Will you please talk to me?” he asked stepping to the side to allow her to pass.

“Talk to you? About how you lied to me for months, snuck into my home under the pretense of some lost animal and let me confide my deepest secrets in you without caring how that would affect me? No! I mean I told you to leave last night but did you even go home, Derrick?” She asked noticing he was wearing the same thing he had on last night. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. The only thing you can do right now, Derrick, is leave me alone. Stay away from my house, stay away from my job and stay the hell away from me!”

“The Cult knows you’re onto them and that you’re looking for a way to keep the Destroyer from returning to earth. They will do everything in their powers to keep you from stopping them!”

“I can handle myself.”

“It’s too dangerous to go it alone, Victoria.”

“Fuck off, Derrick! That’s the last time I’m warning you.” Throwing her jeep into reverse, her foot hit the gas hard and she sped from her yard. Hurriedly she rushed towards work or anyplace to get as far away from Derrick as possible, leaving him standing in a puff of dust.

Continue---->