Puppet Master (Chapters 1-2)
Title: Puppet Master
Author: kijani
Fandom: Blood Ties
Pairing: Henry/Vicki
Rating: T... For now.
Summary: Christina is back, and she has plans for Vicki...and this time, Henry might not be able to save her.
Chapter One: The Disappearing Act
Vicki jumped up as the phone rang, her head meeting unceremoniously with the table near the couch on which she'd been napping. She sat there for a moment in the silence of the room before the phone rang again. Other than the sound of her own breathing, Vicki heard nothing. But…that couldn't be right at all, could it?
She swung her legs over the side of the couch, rubbing her head and casting an angry glare at the side table as she did so. "Coreen?" she called out. "Coreen?"
She was greeted with only silence in return. Her secretary? Nowhere to be found. Groaning in frustration as the third ring of the phone set off the answering machine, Vicki charged into her main office, where Coreen was supposed to be manning the phones during her down time. No one. Of course.
"Damn it," she pressed the play button on the machine, but her attention dwindled somewhat when it was a familiar voice coming out of the speaker. Mike. She wasn't even sure what she wanted, but it didn't seem important. Vicki was far too stuck on the disappearance of her trusted and loyal secretary. Boy, was she going to ring the girl's neck when she got her hands on her…
Grabbing her coat from the rack, she charged at the door, arm outstretched to push it out of her way. Unfortunately, it opened just as she reached it, and she let out a squeak of embarrassed surprise as she collided with Henry.
"Henry," she blushed. "Sorry about that…"
"In a hurry?" he smirked.
"To give Coreen a piece of my mind? You bet."
Her answer was met with a confused stare from Henry, who promptly looked behind Vicki to the empty desk in her office: the one usually occupied by Coreen. After a moment of confused silence, his gaze returned to Vicki as he pointed a finger at the empty desk.
"Where did she go?" he asked.
Vicki could only shrug. "If I knew, I wouldn't be about to go looking for her, now would I?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm…something Henry was probably all too familiar with. "She was supposed to be watching the phones for an hour so I could get some sleep, but when I woke up, she wasn't here at all. Dumped poor Mike into voicemail…"
"Yeah, poor Mike," Henry feigned interest. "Look, I just talked to Coreen. She said you were sleeping, but I told her I would wake you up when I got here…" His eyes scanned the room, but he noticed nothing out of the ordinary. It was all so strange. After all, he had just talked to the girl. What would possess her to leave when she knew she would be leaving Vicki and her office all alone? What if it hadn't been he who had come charging through the door? Of course, it wasn't like Coreen could protect Vicki from someone like him, but that wasn't the point…
"Earth to Henry…" Vicki couldn't hide the agitation in her voice as she waved a hand in front of the vampire's face. "What do you mean you just talked to her? Did you tell her to go somewhere? If you have her running errands for you again, I swear I'll…"
She was stopped by the shaking of Henry's head. "First of all, I didn't tell her to go anywhere, and second of all, calm down. Did you have a bad dream or something? I know Coreen is AWOL, but I've only seen you this upset once before, and we both know how that ended…" Henry's eyes shone with genuine concern for his pseudo-partner and secret love interest.
"Actually, yes…" Vicki's gaze fell to the floor.
"About?"
"Nothing important…"
"Vicki…"
"I said it isn't important, Henry. Can we please just…"
"Chinese food? My treat. You look like you need it." Henry offered. "Besides, maybe after we've sat down and had a bite to eat, Coreen will show up...with a really good explanation as to where she's been…" He gave Vicki a knowing wink and offered her his arm.
She studied him suspiciously for a moment before taking his arm and allowing herself to be led from the office. He was right, after all. Perhaps the only thing Vicki needed was a belly full of greasy Chinese food to put her in a better mood.
Cars whizzed past them as they walked down the sidewalk. It was late as always, but the city of Toronto was alive with lights. It made it all the more difficult for Vicki to see, but her companion more than made up for the problem.
Taking a right turn, the two found themselves face-to-face with a run-down old building. When Vicki was a child, the building was once home to a small toy store. Now, just as it had back then, the old building housed Vicki's favorite thing in the world-mass quantities of Chinese food. Without a second thought, Vicki quickened her pace into the building, dragging Henry along as she went. She seated them herself at a table in the back, and looked expectantly at one of the passing waitresses.
"If you get this excited over food, I'd love to see how excited you get about…" A punch to the arm cut Henry's sentence off early, and a few seconds later, Vicki was looking at him with an innocent smile on her face.
"I want beef and vegetables," she said sweetly, pretending as though nothing had happened. "With lots of soy sauce…"
Henry rubbed his arm and glared at her, but said nothing. He deserved it, anyway. He knew as well as she did what he was going to say. "What she said," he reported to the woman who had come to take their order. "And that's all. I won't be eating tonight…"
Vicki stifled a laugh, raising an eyebrow at her friend. When the waitress left, she twirled a pair of chopsticks in her hand for a moment before she simply let them fall to the table, letting out a sigh of frustration. "I just don't know where she could have gotten to! It's not like her to just leave like that, and I…gah…" she groaned out in frustration.
"I was wondering when we would get to this part," Henry smirked.
"The part where my head pops off and spins into an alternate dimension, or the part where you insert the words of reason into the conversation?" Vicki retorted.
"Both."
"Smart ass."
"Why, thank you."
Before the irritated PI could get another word in, the waitress reappeared with a tray full of delicious food for Vicki to devour. Her eyes widened at the sight of her favorite food, and her hands flew to the chopsticks she'd dropped on the table earlier. For most women, chocolate was a cure-all; Vicki's cure-all was this.
Vicki shoveled a large amount of rice into her mouth and looked up at Henry, who just happened to be staring wide-eyed at the spectacle she was making. "Shut…up." She said between bites.
"Didn't say anything," He said with an innocent smile.
"You're thinking it," Vicki accused him with another mouthful of vegetables and rice. "Coreen gets that same look every time I…" she stopped again at the thought of Coreen, and Henry could tell she was agitated once again.
He sighed. "Calm down. I'm sure she'll turn up by the time we get back to your place…" He shook his head as his eyes busied themselves with counting the cracks in the tile floor. He couldn't look at Vicki. He knew she was angry at the sudden disappearance of her assistant, but seeing her there seething with her cheeks puffed full of Chinese food made him want to laugh out loud. Coreen would already be facing Vicki's wrath tonight. Henry was not about to add himself to that list.
However, when they got back to Vicki's apartment office, Henry was proven wrong. The desk that Coreen usually occupied as empty, just as it had been when they'd left, and things in the office had not changed one bit…at least, at first glance.
With a renewed burst of anger, Vicki charged forward, lunging for the phone and punching out Coreen's number. "She better hope she has a really good excuse for…" Vicki's eyes narrowed as she slammed the phone down on the receiver, "…voicemail…"
Vicki was so preoccupied with beating her phone senseless in an effort to contact her missing assistant that she missed the sudden change in Henry. Something wasn't right, and he knew it. His eyes scanned the room, just as they had when he arrived, but nothing seemed to have changed. Still, though, there was something strange about the space…something familiar. Henry could not shake the feeling that there was more to this than there seemed to be.
In an instant, he knew what that something was, and his eyes blackened with anger. Vicki finally noticed when she heard the faint sound of a growl coming from the other side of the room.
"What's wrong, Henry?" She knew that reaction, and it never meant anything good. "Is something here?"
He shook his head. "Something isn't. Someone was. I don't know why I didn't notice it earlier…" The sound of the growl in his throat grew louder, and Vicki would have been a fool not to notice how his nails were beginning to grow into claws.
"Henry…" she whispered. "Calm down. What is it?"
"Not what, Vicki. Who. Christina has been here."
"Chris-not that Christina?" Vicki's eyes widened. It had to be her. She was the only Christina they both knew, and she had a not-so-secret death wish for Vicki. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Vicki was surprised how worried her voice sounded when she finally spoke. "You think….you think Christina has Coreen?" she whimpered.
Henry said nothing, merely nodding as he tried to keep his anger in check. He'd warned her. He'd told her to stay out of his territory and leave Vicki alone. Why was she doing this?
"Henry…"
"Coreen will be fine."
"But…"
"You aren't going after Christina, Vicki. She's even older than I am. You'd be killed. And seeing as how that's exactly what she wants, I think it's a bad plan." He paced for a moment before looking up to meet her gaze again. "If I know Christina, she should be easy enough to find. I'll get Coreen back safely for you, all right? You just stay right here. And I'm serious. I'll call the office phone. Best make sure you stay here to answer it," he smirked. With that, he rounded on his heels and was gone before Vicki could blink.
She sat dumbfounded for a moment in Coreen's office chair before something dawned on her, and her hand flew to one of the desk drawers. She let out a tiny gasp when she found the drawer to be empty. Of course. Christina knew about it…because Vicki had threatened her with it the last time she'd seen her.
Wherever Christina was, she had Coreen and the Illuminacion del Sol. It was the weapon Javier Mendosa had used on Henry, and the only weapon Vicki had against Christina. What exactly was the female vampire planning?
***
Chapter Two: Trap Door
Vicki had yet to move from Coreen's office chair, and Henry had been gone for over an hour. Every couple minutes her eyes would travel to the empty door which once held the Illuminacion del Sol, and she would let out a frustrated groan, but other than that her apartment remained silent. She'd had no word from Henry, either, and although her hand nearly itched to pick up the desk phone and dial his number, she resisted the urge. How could she? How could she have kept this from him all that time? How could she let something like this happen? And more importantly, how in the hell was she supposed to tell Henry? Questions swam through her mind as she tried to decide the best course of action for her to take. In her mind, the best course of action involved her getting out of that chair and out there to help…but going against Henry's wishes would likely do nothing but cause more problems later…especially if it was what Christina wanted.
But then again, what if what she wanted was nothing more than Henry to leave her side long enough to get Vicki alone?
A small shiver passed through her body as her eyes darted suspiciously to the window, but she was several stories up, and of course she saw nothing. She was losing it. Besides, Henry couldn't fly. She wasn't thinking straight at all.
The ringing of the phone nearly caused her to jump out of the chair. She let out a tiny yelp of surprise as her hand shot out and grabbed the receiver. It was Henry. It had to be. He had promised to call the office phone when he had news.
"What took you so long? Why didn't you call earlier? Did you find her? Is she alright?" Vicki fired off questions into the receiver without even bothering to check if she had been right about her first instinct. "Hello?" Her voice was agitated, but she tried her best to hide the evidence of her panic from the person on the other end.
Someone cleared their throat, and Vicki knew at once that the caller wasn't Henry. She let out a sigh, but before she could commence with the apology, Mike had already started talking. "Vicki…" He was using that tone. She'd heard it before. It was his bad news voice. She never liked hearing his bad news voice…especially not while he was talking to her. "Vicki, we need to talk. Henry is here with me…"
"Henry is…?" Her voice came out much weaker than she'd intended. Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of her mind, she knew that what she was about to hear would not be good, and she was doing her best to keep herself calm and listen to what her old friend and partner had to say.
"Yes, he is. We, uh…I mean…Vicki, I'm sorry…" There was a long pause in which Mike was silent and Vicki nearly stopped breathing. "It's…it's Coreen, Vicki. She's been…Henry found her. He called us. She's…she's gone, Vicki. I'm so sorry…" Mike's own voice broke as he struggled to keep himself calm. It was his job, yes, but he knew the young girl, and it was different when it happened like that. It was different because there was nothing…nothing…
Something inside of Vicki broke. At first, she didn't even notice the tears. In fact, she didn't notice anything at all out of the ordinary until she heard the tiny plop noise, and looked down to see her notepad dotted with ink splotches. Without another word to Mike, she hung up the phone, staring at it for a moment as it sat in its cradle as though it had done something to personally harm her.
Coreen was…Coreen had been…it was all her fault. Hers. Christina had done it. But why? Why? If she wanted Vicki gone so badly, why did Coreen have to die?
Vicki slammed her fist down on her desk over and over until the initial pain of the act was replaced with nothing more than a dull ache. She sobbed until she could barely breathe, until her eyes were puffy and swollen and her cheeks were red and stinging…but even then, she couldn't seem to stop.
Maybe it was all her fault? Why did she have to bring Coreen into all of this mess, anyway? Why couldn't she have said no when Coreen asked if she could help? It would have been so easy, saying no…so why hadn't she?
When she was almost sure she had no tears left to cry, she picked up her cell phone. For the longest time she simply stared at the screen. She still hadn't quite figured out what she was going to say to him. How do you tell someone something like that? But she needed him. She needed him now more than ever. And he needed to know. He deserved to know. Especially about this. How many more people was she going to endanger? How many more would die before Christina finally decided to drop the second shoe?
Her body felt numb, but somehow, her fingers still managed to work, and before long, she had dialed the number. The phone barely had time to ring before it was answered, and she heard a very familiar voice on the other end. Henry. She sniffled into the phone, missing what he said entirely as she tried to compose herself a little more for what was to come.
"Hen…Henry…" she stammered, her voice low and broken.
"Vicki, are you alright? Why did you hang up? You didn't do anything did you? Please tell me you stayed at your apartment? Are you…"
Henry probably would have continued, but Vicki cut him off again. "Henry, please…please come here. I didn't leave, I promise. But please. I can't be alone right now, and I need to talk to you. I have to tell you something. I have to. Oh god. Coreen was…because of me…"
"No, Vicki. No." His voice was stern and yet still somehow so caring, and she hiccupped into the phone as he continued talking. "This isn't your fault. Christina did this, and it isn't your fault. Don't you blame yourself. You can't. You understand?" After a small pause, his voice softened, and he let out a deep sigh. "I'll…I'll be on my way soon, alright? Stay there. We can have a talk when I get there, okay?"
Once again, Vicki hung up without so much as a reply. He was on his way, and at least that was a start. Of course, it also meant the truth would come out. Henry would hate her, and Christina would do whatever it was that Christina was planning to do. It would all be over.
Her eyes were fixated on the door as she waited for him to arrive. The only sound in the apartment was the ticking of the wall clock hanging behind her bed, and the occasional sound of her own breathing. There might have been more, but if there was, she had tuned it out long ago. She was functioning on an entirely different level, and somehow, doing so had managed to allow her to keep herself a bit more together…even if doing such was only for outward appearances.
It took longer than she'd expected it would, but finally she saw his form outside the door, and she let out a sigh of relief. At least he'd made it back safely. At least Christina hadn't gotten to him, too. Vicki wouldn't be able to forgive herself if that happened.
"Vicki…" Henry's voice came out just above a whisper as he rushed across the room to wrap her in his arms. They stayed this way for a long time, Henry's hands moving up to play with her hair occasionally, or rub comforting circles in her back. "Vicki, are you alright?" He swallowed a lump in his throat and placed a small kiss on her forehead.
"I was worried," he admitted. "I was terrified when I found Coreen that the only reason I found her was so that I would leave you alone. She hasn't been back, has she? Coreen was…Coreen had been gone, Vicki. For hours. It felt like a trap, and I was scared. So scared that she would get to you while I wasn't there…"
Vicki shook her head, doing her best to push herself away from him as gently as possible. "I'm fine, Henry. But it was. It was a trap. Christina was after something. She got what she wanted, too. It was here, in Coreen's desk drawer. I put it here a long time ago. It's been there ever since the night that Javier Mendosa died…." Her voice broke, and her eyes darted to the floor. For the longest time, she barely breathed, and she was afraid to look at him. She was afraid that if she looked into his eyes, he would simply stand up and leave. And she didn't want that. She'd never wanted that. "I…I'm sorry…" she managed to choke out before she broke into sobs again. "I kept that vile thing, and I don't even know why I kept it. I trust you, Henry. I always have. And I'm not even sure what I was thinking…"
"I know, Vicki…"
"You…you knew?" she stammered.
He nodded. "For a long time, I knew, yes. And I figured you had your reasons. After what I almost did to you that night…" He paused for a moment, his own eyes darting for the ground. "After what I almost did, I thought it best not to question your choice. I trust you too, you know…"
"I…I'm sorry…" she repeated.
Laughter. But it didn't belong to her, and it certainly didn't belong to Henry. Both of them now on high alert, two pairs of eyes searched her quiet apartment for the source of the disturbance. A low, steady growl erupted from somewhere deep within Henry's throat, and after a moment, he stepped in front of Vicki.
"Come out, Christina. Show yourself!" he snarled.
"How touching…" she smirked, coming into the room from an adjoining one. "All worried about this piss-ant human woman, are you Henry? Were you afraid it was all a trap? You thought I'd kill the bitch the moment you drove away, right?" Another long shrill laugh as she stepped forward. From where they stood, both Henry and Vicki now had a clear view of the Illuminacion del Sol, clasped tightly in Christina's right hand.
"Well," she smirked. "You were right about one thing. It was a trap. But I've been here the whole time. If I was simply going to kill the bitch, I could have done it when you'd gone. You're losing your touch, Henry. Really. You know I don't operate like that…" With a growl, Christina lunged forward with unnatural speed. Henry pushed Vicki back, letting out a growl of his own as he threw his arms out and worked to keep distance between himself and Vicki and Christina. They scuffled for only a moment before Henry let out a hiss of pain, and Christina roared with laughter.
"You only knew part of the plan, Henry. Now is when the real fun begins…and you're the star," she smirked. "Sit down, doll. Enjoy the show." A well-placed hit to the back of the head sent Vicki tumbling to the floor, and welcoming the darkness.
Author: kijani
Fandom: Blood Ties
Pairing: Henry/Vicki
Rating: T... For now.
Summary: Christina is back, and she has plans for Vicki...and this time, Henry might not be able to save her.
Chapter One: The Disappearing Act
Vicki jumped up as the phone rang, her head meeting unceremoniously with the table near the couch on which she'd been napping. She sat there for a moment in the silence of the room before the phone rang again. Other than the sound of her own breathing, Vicki heard nothing. But…that couldn't be right at all, could it?
She swung her legs over the side of the couch, rubbing her head and casting an angry glare at the side table as she did so. "Coreen?" she called out. "Coreen?"
She was greeted with only silence in return. Her secretary? Nowhere to be found. Groaning in frustration as the third ring of the phone set off the answering machine, Vicki charged into her main office, where Coreen was supposed to be manning the phones during her down time. No one. Of course.
"Damn it," she pressed the play button on the machine, but her attention dwindled somewhat when it was a familiar voice coming out of the speaker. Mike. She wasn't even sure what she wanted, but it didn't seem important. Vicki was far too stuck on the disappearance of her trusted and loyal secretary. Boy, was she going to ring the girl's neck when she got her hands on her…
Grabbing her coat from the rack, she charged at the door, arm outstretched to push it out of her way. Unfortunately, it opened just as she reached it, and she let out a squeak of embarrassed surprise as she collided with Henry.
"Henry," she blushed. "Sorry about that…"
"In a hurry?" he smirked.
"To give Coreen a piece of my mind? You bet."
Her answer was met with a confused stare from Henry, who promptly looked behind Vicki to the empty desk in her office: the one usually occupied by Coreen. After a moment of confused silence, his gaze returned to Vicki as he pointed a finger at the empty desk.
"Where did she go?" he asked.
Vicki could only shrug. "If I knew, I wouldn't be about to go looking for her, now would I?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm…something Henry was probably all too familiar with. "She was supposed to be watching the phones for an hour so I could get some sleep, but when I woke up, she wasn't here at all. Dumped poor Mike into voicemail…"
"Yeah, poor Mike," Henry feigned interest. "Look, I just talked to Coreen. She said you were sleeping, but I told her I would wake you up when I got here…" His eyes scanned the room, but he noticed nothing out of the ordinary. It was all so strange. After all, he had just talked to the girl. What would possess her to leave when she knew she would be leaving Vicki and her office all alone? What if it hadn't been he who had come charging through the door? Of course, it wasn't like Coreen could protect Vicki from someone like him, but that wasn't the point…
"Earth to Henry…" Vicki couldn't hide the agitation in her voice as she waved a hand in front of the vampire's face. "What do you mean you just talked to her? Did you tell her to go somewhere? If you have her running errands for you again, I swear I'll…"
She was stopped by the shaking of Henry's head. "First of all, I didn't tell her to go anywhere, and second of all, calm down. Did you have a bad dream or something? I know Coreen is AWOL, but I've only seen you this upset once before, and we both know how that ended…" Henry's eyes shone with genuine concern for his pseudo-partner and secret love interest.
"Actually, yes…" Vicki's gaze fell to the floor.
"About?"
"Nothing important…"
"Vicki…"
"I said it isn't important, Henry. Can we please just…"
"Chinese food? My treat. You look like you need it." Henry offered. "Besides, maybe after we've sat down and had a bite to eat, Coreen will show up...with a really good explanation as to where she's been…" He gave Vicki a knowing wink and offered her his arm.
She studied him suspiciously for a moment before taking his arm and allowing herself to be led from the office. He was right, after all. Perhaps the only thing Vicki needed was a belly full of greasy Chinese food to put her in a better mood.
Cars whizzed past them as they walked down the sidewalk. It was late as always, but the city of Toronto was alive with lights. It made it all the more difficult for Vicki to see, but her companion more than made up for the problem.
Taking a right turn, the two found themselves face-to-face with a run-down old building. When Vicki was a child, the building was once home to a small toy store. Now, just as it had back then, the old building housed Vicki's favorite thing in the world-mass quantities of Chinese food. Without a second thought, Vicki quickened her pace into the building, dragging Henry along as she went. She seated them herself at a table in the back, and looked expectantly at one of the passing waitresses.
"If you get this excited over food, I'd love to see how excited you get about…" A punch to the arm cut Henry's sentence off early, and a few seconds later, Vicki was looking at him with an innocent smile on her face.
"I want beef and vegetables," she said sweetly, pretending as though nothing had happened. "With lots of soy sauce…"
Henry rubbed his arm and glared at her, but said nothing. He deserved it, anyway. He knew as well as she did what he was going to say. "What she said," he reported to the woman who had come to take their order. "And that's all. I won't be eating tonight…"
Vicki stifled a laugh, raising an eyebrow at her friend. When the waitress left, she twirled a pair of chopsticks in her hand for a moment before she simply let them fall to the table, letting out a sigh of frustration. "I just don't know where she could have gotten to! It's not like her to just leave like that, and I…gah…" she groaned out in frustration.
"I was wondering when we would get to this part," Henry smirked.
"The part where my head pops off and spins into an alternate dimension, or the part where you insert the words of reason into the conversation?" Vicki retorted.
"Both."
"Smart ass."
"Why, thank you."
Before the irritated PI could get another word in, the waitress reappeared with a tray full of delicious food for Vicki to devour. Her eyes widened at the sight of her favorite food, and her hands flew to the chopsticks she'd dropped on the table earlier. For most women, chocolate was a cure-all; Vicki's cure-all was this.
Vicki shoveled a large amount of rice into her mouth and looked up at Henry, who just happened to be staring wide-eyed at the spectacle she was making. "Shut…up." She said between bites.
"Didn't say anything," He said with an innocent smile.
"You're thinking it," Vicki accused him with another mouthful of vegetables and rice. "Coreen gets that same look every time I…" she stopped again at the thought of Coreen, and Henry could tell she was agitated once again.
He sighed. "Calm down. I'm sure she'll turn up by the time we get back to your place…" He shook his head as his eyes busied themselves with counting the cracks in the tile floor. He couldn't look at Vicki. He knew she was angry at the sudden disappearance of her assistant, but seeing her there seething with her cheeks puffed full of Chinese food made him want to laugh out loud. Coreen would already be facing Vicki's wrath tonight. Henry was not about to add himself to that list.
However, when they got back to Vicki's apartment office, Henry was proven wrong. The desk that Coreen usually occupied as empty, just as it had been when they'd left, and things in the office had not changed one bit…at least, at first glance.
With a renewed burst of anger, Vicki charged forward, lunging for the phone and punching out Coreen's number. "She better hope she has a really good excuse for…" Vicki's eyes narrowed as she slammed the phone down on the receiver, "…voicemail…"
Vicki was so preoccupied with beating her phone senseless in an effort to contact her missing assistant that she missed the sudden change in Henry. Something wasn't right, and he knew it. His eyes scanned the room, just as they had when he arrived, but nothing seemed to have changed. Still, though, there was something strange about the space…something familiar. Henry could not shake the feeling that there was more to this than there seemed to be.
In an instant, he knew what that something was, and his eyes blackened with anger. Vicki finally noticed when she heard the faint sound of a growl coming from the other side of the room.
"What's wrong, Henry?" She knew that reaction, and it never meant anything good. "Is something here?"
He shook his head. "Something isn't. Someone was. I don't know why I didn't notice it earlier…" The sound of the growl in his throat grew louder, and Vicki would have been a fool not to notice how his nails were beginning to grow into claws.
"Henry…" she whispered. "Calm down. What is it?"
"Not what, Vicki. Who. Christina has been here."
"Chris-not that Christina?" Vicki's eyes widened. It had to be her. She was the only Christina they both knew, and she had a not-so-secret death wish for Vicki. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Vicki was surprised how worried her voice sounded when she finally spoke. "You think….you think Christina has Coreen?" she whimpered.
Henry said nothing, merely nodding as he tried to keep his anger in check. He'd warned her. He'd told her to stay out of his territory and leave Vicki alone. Why was she doing this?
"Henry…"
"Coreen will be fine."
"But…"
"You aren't going after Christina, Vicki. She's even older than I am. You'd be killed. And seeing as how that's exactly what she wants, I think it's a bad plan." He paced for a moment before looking up to meet her gaze again. "If I know Christina, she should be easy enough to find. I'll get Coreen back safely for you, all right? You just stay right here. And I'm serious. I'll call the office phone. Best make sure you stay here to answer it," he smirked. With that, he rounded on his heels and was gone before Vicki could blink.
She sat dumbfounded for a moment in Coreen's office chair before something dawned on her, and her hand flew to one of the desk drawers. She let out a tiny gasp when she found the drawer to be empty. Of course. Christina knew about it…because Vicki had threatened her with it the last time she'd seen her.
Wherever Christina was, she had Coreen and the Illuminacion del Sol. It was the weapon Javier Mendosa had used on Henry, and the only weapon Vicki had against Christina. What exactly was the female vampire planning?
***
Chapter Two: Trap Door
Vicki had yet to move from Coreen's office chair, and Henry had been gone for over an hour. Every couple minutes her eyes would travel to the empty door which once held the Illuminacion del Sol, and she would let out a frustrated groan, but other than that her apartment remained silent. She'd had no word from Henry, either, and although her hand nearly itched to pick up the desk phone and dial his number, she resisted the urge. How could she? How could she have kept this from him all that time? How could she let something like this happen? And more importantly, how in the hell was she supposed to tell Henry? Questions swam through her mind as she tried to decide the best course of action for her to take. In her mind, the best course of action involved her getting out of that chair and out there to help…but going against Henry's wishes would likely do nothing but cause more problems later…especially if it was what Christina wanted.
But then again, what if what she wanted was nothing more than Henry to leave her side long enough to get Vicki alone?
A small shiver passed through her body as her eyes darted suspiciously to the window, but she was several stories up, and of course she saw nothing. She was losing it. Besides, Henry couldn't fly. She wasn't thinking straight at all.
The ringing of the phone nearly caused her to jump out of the chair. She let out a tiny yelp of surprise as her hand shot out and grabbed the receiver. It was Henry. It had to be. He had promised to call the office phone when he had news.
"What took you so long? Why didn't you call earlier? Did you find her? Is she alright?" Vicki fired off questions into the receiver without even bothering to check if she had been right about her first instinct. "Hello?" Her voice was agitated, but she tried her best to hide the evidence of her panic from the person on the other end.
Someone cleared their throat, and Vicki knew at once that the caller wasn't Henry. She let out a sigh, but before she could commence with the apology, Mike had already started talking. "Vicki…" He was using that tone. She'd heard it before. It was his bad news voice. She never liked hearing his bad news voice…especially not while he was talking to her. "Vicki, we need to talk. Henry is here with me…"
"Henry is…?" Her voice came out much weaker than she'd intended. Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of her mind, she knew that what she was about to hear would not be good, and she was doing her best to keep herself calm and listen to what her old friend and partner had to say.
"Yes, he is. We, uh…I mean…Vicki, I'm sorry…" There was a long pause in which Mike was silent and Vicki nearly stopped breathing. "It's…it's Coreen, Vicki. She's been…Henry found her. He called us. She's…she's gone, Vicki. I'm so sorry…" Mike's own voice broke as he struggled to keep himself calm. It was his job, yes, but he knew the young girl, and it was different when it happened like that. It was different because there was nothing…nothing…
Something inside of Vicki broke. At first, she didn't even notice the tears. In fact, she didn't notice anything at all out of the ordinary until she heard the tiny plop noise, and looked down to see her notepad dotted with ink splotches. Without another word to Mike, she hung up the phone, staring at it for a moment as it sat in its cradle as though it had done something to personally harm her.
Coreen was…Coreen had been…it was all her fault. Hers. Christina had done it. But why? Why? If she wanted Vicki gone so badly, why did Coreen have to die?
Vicki slammed her fist down on her desk over and over until the initial pain of the act was replaced with nothing more than a dull ache. She sobbed until she could barely breathe, until her eyes were puffy and swollen and her cheeks were red and stinging…but even then, she couldn't seem to stop.
Maybe it was all her fault? Why did she have to bring Coreen into all of this mess, anyway? Why couldn't she have said no when Coreen asked if she could help? It would have been so easy, saying no…so why hadn't she?
When she was almost sure she had no tears left to cry, she picked up her cell phone. For the longest time she simply stared at the screen. She still hadn't quite figured out what she was going to say to him. How do you tell someone something like that? But she needed him. She needed him now more than ever. And he needed to know. He deserved to know. Especially about this. How many more people was she going to endanger? How many more would die before Christina finally decided to drop the second shoe?
Her body felt numb, but somehow, her fingers still managed to work, and before long, she had dialed the number. The phone barely had time to ring before it was answered, and she heard a very familiar voice on the other end. Henry. She sniffled into the phone, missing what he said entirely as she tried to compose herself a little more for what was to come.
"Hen…Henry…" she stammered, her voice low and broken.
"Vicki, are you alright? Why did you hang up? You didn't do anything did you? Please tell me you stayed at your apartment? Are you…"
Henry probably would have continued, but Vicki cut him off again. "Henry, please…please come here. I didn't leave, I promise. But please. I can't be alone right now, and I need to talk to you. I have to tell you something. I have to. Oh god. Coreen was…because of me…"
"No, Vicki. No." His voice was stern and yet still somehow so caring, and she hiccupped into the phone as he continued talking. "This isn't your fault. Christina did this, and it isn't your fault. Don't you blame yourself. You can't. You understand?" After a small pause, his voice softened, and he let out a deep sigh. "I'll…I'll be on my way soon, alright? Stay there. We can have a talk when I get there, okay?"
Once again, Vicki hung up without so much as a reply. He was on his way, and at least that was a start. Of course, it also meant the truth would come out. Henry would hate her, and Christina would do whatever it was that Christina was planning to do. It would all be over.
Her eyes were fixated on the door as she waited for him to arrive. The only sound in the apartment was the ticking of the wall clock hanging behind her bed, and the occasional sound of her own breathing. There might have been more, but if there was, she had tuned it out long ago. She was functioning on an entirely different level, and somehow, doing so had managed to allow her to keep herself a bit more together…even if doing such was only for outward appearances.
It took longer than she'd expected it would, but finally she saw his form outside the door, and she let out a sigh of relief. At least he'd made it back safely. At least Christina hadn't gotten to him, too. Vicki wouldn't be able to forgive herself if that happened.
"Vicki…" Henry's voice came out just above a whisper as he rushed across the room to wrap her in his arms. They stayed this way for a long time, Henry's hands moving up to play with her hair occasionally, or rub comforting circles in her back. "Vicki, are you alright?" He swallowed a lump in his throat and placed a small kiss on her forehead.
"I was worried," he admitted. "I was terrified when I found Coreen that the only reason I found her was so that I would leave you alone. She hasn't been back, has she? Coreen was…Coreen had been gone, Vicki. For hours. It felt like a trap, and I was scared. So scared that she would get to you while I wasn't there…"
Vicki shook her head, doing her best to push herself away from him as gently as possible. "I'm fine, Henry. But it was. It was a trap. Christina was after something. She got what she wanted, too. It was here, in Coreen's desk drawer. I put it here a long time ago. It's been there ever since the night that Javier Mendosa died…." Her voice broke, and her eyes darted to the floor. For the longest time, she barely breathed, and she was afraid to look at him. She was afraid that if she looked into his eyes, he would simply stand up and leave. And she didn't want that. She'd never wanted that. "I…I'm sorry…" she managed to choke out before she broke into sobs again. "I kept that vile thing, and I don't even know why I kept it. I trust you, Henry. I always have. And I'm not even sure what I was thinking…"
"I know, Vicki…"
"You…you knew?" she stammered.
He nodded. "For a long time, I knew, yes. And I figured you had your reasons. After what I almost did to you that night…" He paused for a moment, his own eyes darting for the ground. "After what I almost did, I thought it best not to question your choice. I trust you too, you know…"
"I…I'm sorry…" she repeated.
Laughter. But it didn't belong to her, and it certainly didn't belong to Henry. Both of them now on high alert, two pairs of eyes searched her quiet apartment for the source of the disturbance. A low, steady growl erupted from somewhere deep within Henry's throat, and after a moment, he stepped in front of Vicki.
"Come out, Christina. Show yourself!" he snarled.
"How touching…" she smirked, coming into the room from an adjoining one. "All worried about this piss-ant human woman, are you Henry? Were you afraid it was all a trap? You thought I'd kill the bitch the moment you drove away, right?" Another long shrill laugh as she stepped forward. From where they stood, both Henry and Vicki now had a clear view of the Illuminacion del Sol, clasped tightly in Christina's right hand.
"Well," she smirked. "You were right about one thing. It was a trap. But I've been here the whole time. If I was simply going to kill the bitch, I could have done it when you'd gone. You're losing your touch, Henry. Really. You know I don't operate like that…" With a growl, Christina lunged forward with unnatural speed. Henry pushed Vicki back, letting out a growl of his own as he threw his arms out and worked to keep distance between himself and Vicki and Christina. They scuffled for only a moment before Henry let out a hiss of pain, and Christina roared with laughter.
"You only knew part of the plan, Henry. Now is when the real fun begins…and you're the star," she smirked. "Sit down, doll. Enjoy the show." A well-placed hit to the back of the head sent Vicki tumbling to the floor, and welcoming the darkness.