be afraid?”
“ Are you afraid of me, Detective?”
“ Back there, in the autopsy lab...yeah, I was a little.”
“ It’s not me, Detective. It’s her.”
“ Which comes back to my question: are you possessed, Sam?”
I almost laughed. “Now that’s a question I bet you don’t ask every day.”
He smiled and waited. I felt suddenly sad and empty and lost. His eyes held compassion, but also wariness. That a grown man...that such a huge hunk of a grown man with a gun and his training and his muscles, would be wary of me, just made me realize all over again just how much of a monster I’d become.
“ Not a monster, Sam. I just don’t understand what’s going on with you. Tell me about the thing within you.”
“ She’s a highly evolved dark master.”
“ What does that mean?”
“ Think of a highly evolved master—like Christ or Buddha. But she would be the opposite.”
“ She is evil.”
“ Perhaps,” I said. “Although I’m not sure what evil means, exactly. I do know that she enjoys death. She enjoys taking life. She feeds on the fear of others. She enjoys creating fear. She enjoys, for instance, that you are wary of me. She wants me to exploit that. I can feel it within me. She hungers to control, to feed, to consume.”
“ Sounds evil to me.”
“ She does not see it that way. She sees it as a balancing of the light. A necessity.”
“ A necessary evil?”
“ I think so, yes.”
“ Do you communicate with her?”
“ No. Not yet. But she is getting bolder. I can feel her inside me more and more. I sense her impressions now. They filter up from wherever she resides.”
“ Sweet Jesus.”
“ The name alone makes her recoil.”
“ Interesting,” said Sanchez.
“ Very,” I said.
“ So, she doesn’t possess you?”
“ No. I am still me. But she influences me heavily.”
“ She is the source of your current powers?”
I nodded. “Or as some would have me believe, the source of my immortal condition.”
“Why is she here? Why does she do what she does?”
“ It is her entry into this world.”
“ Through you?”
“ And others like me.”
Sanchez blinked. “I just received an image of a hulking creature. Is that a...”
“A werewolf, Detective.”
“ You have got to be kidding me.”
“ I’m afraid not. Would you like for me to erase your memory now?”
“ No. Not yet. Perhaps never. I need to know this stuff.”
“ Why?”
“ I have a job to do, for one.”
“ You need to know what you’re up against, and all that?”
“ Yes. But also...”
His voice trailed off, and I caught where he was going with this. “No, Detective. I can’t let you.”
“I want to help you, Sam.”
I shook my head. “No. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe I don’t, but I know one thing, Sam: you need help. A lot of help. I may not be this big, hairy Kingsley fellow, but I have resources at my disposal, and I’m pretty good with a gun.”
I chuckled...and as I did so, he sat back a little.
“Wait...Kingsley Fulcrum, the defense attorney...is a werewolf?”
“ Does it surprise you?”
“ He is a big-son-of-bitch.”
“ And hairy,” I added.
“ There is a lot of weird going on,” said Sanchez, whistling lightly.
“ I would say welcome to my world...”
“ But it’s my world, too,” he said. “Now.”
I didn’t say anything about that, and as we sat here together, I focused on something that had been troubling me since I’d first met the LAPD detective in Sherbet’s office.
“Tell me again why you first approached Sherbet?”
Sanchez looked at me, blinked, and as he did so, I noted something very curious in his memory. It was blank. He said, “You guys dealt with a similar incident. It seemed obvious to approach Detective Sherbet.”
Except, of course, I knew that the official records had been stricken of any connection that had anything to do with vampires. Officially, the murders taking place under the
“ Are you afraid of me, Detective?”
“ Back there, in the autopsy lab...yeah, I was a little.”
“ It’s not me, Detective. It’s her.”
“ Which comes back to my question: are you possessed, Sam?”
I almost laughed. “Now that’s a question I bet you don’t ask every day.”
He smiled and waited. I felt suddenly sad and empty and lost. His eyes held compassion, but also wariness. That a grown man...that such a huge hunk of a grown man with a gun and his training and his muscles, would be wary of me, just made me realize all over again just how much of a monster I’d become.
“ Not a monster, Sam. I just don’t understand what’s going on with you. Tell me about the thing within you.”
“ She’s a highly evolved dark master.”
“ What does that mean?”
“ Think of a highly evolved master—like Christ or Buddha. But she would be the opposite.”
“ She is evil.”
“ Perhaps,” I said. “Although I’m not sure what evil means, exactly. I do know that she enjoys death. She enjoys taking life. She feeds on the fear of others. She enjoys creating fear. She enjoys, for instance, that you are wary of me. She wants me to exploit that. I can feel it within me. She hungers to control, to feed, to consume.”
“ Sounds evil to me.”
“ She does not see it that way. She sees it as a balancing of the light. A necessity.”
“ A necessary evil?”
“ I think so, yes.”
“ Do you communicate with her?”
“ No. Not yet. But she is getting bolder. I can feel her inside me more and more. I sense her impressions now. They filter up from wherever she resides.”
“ Sweet Jesus.”
“ The name alone makes her recoil.”
“ Interesting,” said Sanchez.
“ Very,” I said.
“ So, she doesn’t possess you?”
“ No. I am still me. But she influences me heavily.”
“ She is the source of your current powers?”
I nodded. “Or as some would have me believe, the source of my immortal condition.”
“Why is she here? Why does she do what she does?”
“ It is her entry into this world.”
“ Through you?”
“ And others like me.”
Sanchez blinked. “I just received an image of a hulking creature. Is that a...”
“A werewolf, Detective.”
“ You have got to be kidding me.”
“ I’m afraid not. Would you like for me to erase your memory now?”
“ No. Not yet. Perhaps never. I need to know this stuff.”
“ Why?”
“ I have a job to do, for one.”
“ You need to know what you’re up against, and all that?”
“ Yes. But also...”
His voice trailed off, and I caught where he was going with this. “No, Detective. I can’t let you.”
“I want to help you, Sam.”
I shook my head. “No. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe I don’t, but I know one thing, Sam: you need help. A lot of help. I may not be this big, hairy Kingsley fellow, but I have resources at my disposal, and I’m pretty good with a gun.”
I chuckled...and as I did so, he sat back a little.
“Wait...Kingsley Fulcrum, the defense attorney...is a werewolf?”
“ Does it surprise you?”
“ He is a big-son-of-bitch.”
“ And hairy,” I added.
“ There is a lot of weird going on,” said Sanchez, whistling lightly.
“ I would say welcome to my world...”
“ But it’s my world, too,” he said. “Now.”
I didn’t say anything about that, and as we sat here together, I focused on something that had been troubling me since I’d first met the LAPD detective in Sherbet’s office.
“Tell me again why you first approached Sherbet?”
Sanchez looked at me, blinked, and as he did so, I noted something very curious in his memory. It was blank. He said, “You guys dealt with a similar incident. It seemed obvious to approach Detective Sherbet.”
Except, of course, I knew that the official records had been stricken of any connection that had anything to do with vampires. Officially, the murders taking place under the
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