Fangs and Cuffs

[Last_Rider]

Roderick listened, heard her intentions, but didn't disagree. He didn't like the way the justice system worked for vampires, but also couldn't change it. If it was a vampire killing donors, and there was no reason to doubt that, he just might make sure there was an accident in his handling.

"Don't live for vengeance Amber, life gets hollow after you've had it. Use it, but you need something else for after."

He tried to smile at her, but doubted it came across very well. He wasn't much use in the counseling department, but he wanted to help her for some reason.

"I owe you one for this, I'm just hoping I can repay."

His eyes met hers again, they were the most brilliant shade of green he'd ever seen. They perfectly matched her skin and red hair.

He stopped himself, he'd only insult her or disgust her if he kept thinking along those lines. Though he did decide that tonight he'd get laid, this was seriously starting to affect his work.

 

[AngelofDeath]

"It's all I have left besides my memories," She said under her breath. When he mentioned thanking her she shook her head, "Catching this monster will be thanks enough." That and letting her rip the still beating heart from their chest, but Amber kept that part in her head. Living forever hadn't made her bloodthisrty, but being a Roman still in spirit after all these years, Amber fully believed their was a time and place for extreme bloodshed. Whoever it was would receive no mercy from her.

Roderick was looking at her again. She really couldn't figure out why really. Other than the fact he'd probably never been this close to a vampire before. Well not without his job being involved. "Would you like something to drink? I always keep a well stocked fridge."

The common thought was that vampires didn't eat. They can and did. Blood kept them alive and could be satisfying in its own right. Take away the taste for blood, the fangs, and everything else and they were human. Eating also kept their bodies from metabolizing the blood as quickly as they would on a blood only diet.

That of course was partly vampires' fault. After gaining rights everyone had pretty much gone about their lives. Most humans believed whatever they read in the paper or saw on the news. PR wasn't high on the list of priorities for them, maybe this would change things.

 

[Last_Rider]

"Water would be fine. I don't drink alcohol."

He had to stop staring, it was going to get him in trouble. Instead of focusing on her lovely eyes, shapely waist, or very enticing backside, he looked around the room.

It was very nicely decorated, doubtless the product of hundreds of years of collecting and spending. He'd admired it a little earlier, but now could take the time to fully appreciate the subtleties that made it appealing.

Nothing she owned was obviously expensive or garish, it was tasteful and subdued.

"I didn't get the chance to mention it earlier, but you have a lovely place."

Unfortunately, speaking brought his eyes back to hers, starting the slight stirring in his groin again.

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Thank you. Over the years I have minimized when it comes to decorating my own home, though I do still have much of everything I've collected over the centuries." She opened a silver metal bottle, a small digital read out declaring the temperature of the contents. She filled one of the two tall glasses with was obviously blood and then other with ice water. Carrying the two glasses over Amber caught the faint scent of arousal. Oh.

One would think having lived as long as she had, things like that wouldn't go unnoticed. 'You didn't notice because you have no sex life. Not to mention you lived with a hormonal teenager for years.' Amber was actually a bit flattered even if it would never go anywhere. A vampire and a spook squad member? If he didn't get sacked every vampire in town would treat her like a leaper and most of them actually knew how to do that the right way.

"Here you go. You know how easy it is to end with more things you need, now try that over a century or two. I have a few storage units. Every now and then I go to reminisce or to find something to sell. I end up donating most if not all of the money from the sales."

She sipped the chilled blood slowly, it was obvious it wasn't the same as drinking it fresh from the source, but she managed to not grimace too much. Seeing the look from him she smiled, "Think of it like going from some of the best wine on the world to the cheap shit in the box. It has a bit of a aftertaste thanks to the bottles." Amber also realized just how off that might be fore him to hear so she simply took another sip. A thought did occur to her though, "So why this department? You aren't much like the others, which means you actually want to see that everyone vampire and humans get equal protection under the law or you just got sent there."

 

[Last_Rider]

"A bit of both actually. I've got nothing against vampires, and objectively you've really been handed the short end of the stick, so there's some of that going. Also I want to get into more investigative stuff, Behavioral Psychology, profiling, stuff like that, and this seemed like a good opportunity to gain some experience."

He sipped the water, grateful that it was cold. He felt the cool rush down his throat, through his chest, and spread out in his stomach. It made his body tingle in a delightful way.

"This wasn't my first choice of posts, but I'm not going to complain, I get to meet interesting people, and the work is usually rewarding. At it's heart it's basically the same as other precinct's, just with a worse reputation."

He looked at her again, more in control of himself, his hormones not running out of control like a teenager. His smile was genuine when it split his face, subdued though it was.

"How about you, anything I should know about you to pull this off?"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"I keep to myself. I can't consume synthetic blood without getting ill. " She tried to figure out what else he needed to know that wouldn't bee too out of believability for him to know. "I donate time and money to some of the youth centers in town. As Vincent grew I knew I couldn't do the same with all of the others, but that I could help in some way. I think that's all that can be of help in this really. You're old friends with Vincent from the old days. You kept in touch on and off, but grew apart. You new he had lived with me at one point and after hearing about his death you came to find me."

Amber took another sip of blood, it seemed so strange be to be doing all of this. She was still numb from it all. "No one will really think twice of an old friend being along for moral support." Setting the glass down on the coffee table she combed her hand through her short hair.

"Do you even think there is a chance we will catch this person? I mean honestly? We have pretty much nothing to go on."

 

[Last_Rider]

Roderick mentally took notes on what she said, a philanthropist vampire. Hardly unheard of, but not the most common of situations. It was admirable simply because it was a good thing to do, her vampire status had nothing to do with it.

He tried to focus on her question, to be honest about it.

"Yes, I think we will get them. There's always a mistake, it doesn't matter who or what, somewhere they screw something up. Plus, we do know things about them, they don't like a struggle, I'm betting something set this one off. He couldn't be a compulsive killer, not staying dormant for hundreds of years, so some event triggered this. He's an emotional sadist, which is odd. Physical sadists are much more common, but this guy gets off on making others ache, that's not too common."

He paused, not wanting to go through the entire thing with her just yet.

"Yes, I think we can get him. I'd even be willing to bet it's a male, though that's far from solid. Anyway, we know things, we know his targets, we just need a bit of luck."

His posture had opened up as he'd spoken, he was now mostly facing her, his arousal dissipated as work had taken over his mind.

 

[AngelofDeath]

Amber nodded slowly. "Very few vampires are impulsive, not these days. It was one thing when mortals only had fire and stakes maybe crossbows. There was also the fact that most saw us as mere myth, story. We could feed, heal the wounds and go back about our lives. And depending on the time period being reclusive, was not seen as alarming. The more money you had the more people were willing to overlook such things."

She sighed, " There is not enough to tell if he's picking them at random or if he's targeting specific vampires. We live forever and some of us can carry grudges over the smallest of things. An enemy could be someone you know, trust and love, and you would never know it until they are trying to kill you." Green eyes flicked up to his face, "So maybe we aren't as evolved after all. Not if someone can take their hate out on another. Knowing most of us will never take another donor out of fear, grief or guilt. Or that they will simply be a vein to tap. Nothing more, no love, no intimacy."

 

[Last_Rider]

He nodded, compulsive vampires wouldn't last long. Besides, this guy was nothing if not meticulous. It was driving him insane, the fact that he couldn't get ahead of this guy.

She was right, knowing he targeted donors was like knowing he targeted women, men, racial groups, religious groups, it helped narrow the field a touch, but you couldn't protect all the Donors. It just let you know a little more about him.

"That's something most people don't get, that you vampires are just like us in many ways. They visualize you as monsters, or glamorize your existence, never actually thinking about what you're like."

Her discourse on intimacy made him wonder. Several possibilities ticked in his mind. Several new possible motives, ways of choosing victims, and why he drained them all ticked off in his mind.

"You should know, life without intimacy is hardly living, I can vouch for that."

 

[AngelofDeath]

"I agree, though some people manage to live without it. I've met a few vampires who are monk, to live that long and to be celibate? Strange indeed. I've had great loves, bad ones and those in between. I've had to bury the great ones and I guess I just haven't found anyone who held my interest beyond sex. Vincent was a gift to him really. He knew it would be a one time thing, I had told him years ago I couldn't love him like that. It wasn't anything against him, but the closeness just made it weird. Not to mention I never wanted him to think I had just was like the other adults that had made up his life for so long. The only difference being that I had waited for him to grow up."

She smirked, "I am sure most think that vampires are all about casual sex and blood. It really does depend on when you were made. I know some real puritans walking around who are absolutely disgusted with the change in society. I was a concubine in the Roman Empire. Even after my change I stayed one because I did love him. Watching him die was hard. But yes for the majority of us living without intimacy is impossible. For some they get it from their donors. Even if its not sex. Vincent was my companion I don't think he would have moved out if I hadn't been so determined to see him really live his life to the fullest."

 

[Last_Rider]

Roderick listened intently. Chuckling at her mention of celibacy.

"Trust me, it's not easy."

But, she was also helping him get a better picture. Someone a little emotionally unbalanced, but with a background steeped in pain and sadism. Where would a vampire like that come from?

He'd need to do some research, that was for sure. In the mean time, he felt some sympathy for Amber, eternity without a real partner, companion, or mate would be miserable.

Hell, he'd only been at it 29 years and thought it sucked to be alone. Though, he swore, tonight he'd get some relief.

"So, how long has it been since you've had a lover like that? I'd imagine you fuck on occasion, but there's a difference."

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Three hundred and fifty-nine years," Amber saw the look on his face and tried not to laugh or feel embarrassed really, "7 months, two weeks three days and some odd hours." She did laugh at the look on his face then. "I had some short relationships, but nothing truly passionate. Vampires and mortals. No one that really made me feel whole inside. You?" Amber didn't know what possessed her to ask about the sex/love life of a man she barely knew, but it was out there.

"Sorry you don't have to answer that. Its not really any of my business. Sometimes my mouth runs off without my brain there to filter things." She reached for her glass and finished the last of the blood. Her tongue stole over her lips. Amber could still remember Vincent's taste. So rich so full of life. It wasn't until she felt a tear land on her hand that she realized she was crying again.

Her sigh was shaky as she wiped at her face, "Sorry. I just thought of something though, do you just have a regular ID card? Normally they might not card you, but will all that is going on they might just out of paranoia. If you don't I can call Sasha and Misha and make sure they talk to their security staff."

 

[Last_Rider]

"A few years since my last relationship. I was too into school and the job, she was too into spending money and other guys. It ended about as well as it could, and I don't really miss her. Since then, a few one night stands here and there, I'm currently going on three weeks without any sex."

He blushed a little as he spoke, but not much. He wasn't ashamed or anything, just didn't talk about it much.

"No, don't be. I asked you first, it was a fair question to ask back. Yeah, I've got a few standard ID's, I like forgetting I'm a cop sometimes."

His eyes watched her drink, something oddly erotic about the act. He mentally smacked himself. Three weeks without even a decent jerk off session, lineloum would be erotic under those circumstances.

"Anything more specific I should know or look out for?"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Anything more specific I should know or look out for?"

"Hmm honestly I don't know really. Even amongst ourselves we can be a bit strange, if not outright off putting and withdrawn. At best just take it all in with a grain of salt. Something you might think is suspicious may just be how they normally are. We.." She was interrupted by the doorbell. Amber got up, "Excuse me."

She opened the door slowly once she got to it, "Yes?"

"Flower delivery for an Amber DeGaul." The delivery man had shade on a company hat on she really didn't pay attention.

"That's me. Who are they from?" She took the electronic pad and signed from them.

"Don't know ma'am I just deliver them. There is a card inside though." He handed her the box in exchange for the pad. "You have a nice evening now." He flashed her a smile as he turned and walked off. Amber closed the door, missing the fact he didn't enter any truck or car, but simply vanished like all vampires did when they didn't wish to be seen.

"Must be from Roman or one of the others." She walked back into the living room, just as Petrov made his way back in. The wolfhound took one sniff off the box and let out a slow growl.

"Hush, I know you don't like flowers." Setting the box down on the table she slid the ribbon holding it closed off. Petrov continued to growl slowly. Amber just ignored him as she lifted the lid. Inside were 3 dozen roses, all black except for one red one in the center. She didn't see a card though. "The card must be underneath then." Just as she started to reach into the box, Petrov suddenly clamped his mouth over her wrist hard enough to draw blood.

"PETROV!"Amber jerked away from him. He had never done that before she do anything more than pull her hand up to her chest a loud hiss filled the room. Looking she saw a snake lift its head, it was an Egyptian Cobra. Its hood flared as it focused on her.

"Roderick, don't move." The snake was focused on her and that was what she wanted. There was fear in her eyes, an old fear. This had been the instrument of her death, her first death long ago. Raising her good hand she swayed it back and forth, continuing to hold its attention. The cobra reared up highers out of the roses. She heard Roderick shift, "I said don't move," her eyes never left the cobra's. Hissing loudly it prepared to strike.

 

[Last_Rider]

Something tickled the back of Roderick's mind at the ringing doorbell, but he ignored it. He dismissed the tickling as another product of his mind being out of sync. Had he payed attention, he would have noted that it was warning him.

The pleasantries passed between Amber and the delivery guy, it all seemed normal. It should have seemed normal, it was a perfectly normal activity. Something that happened every day. Had he been paying attention he'd have known that's the best time to strike.

His eyes tracked the wolfhound as it padded in. The dog seemed on edge, growling a low rumble in it's deep chest. When he bit Amber, Roderick finally listened to the bells in his head.

The black form of the snake as it arched startled him, freezing him in place. It shouldn't have, he'd faced down things that were far more intimidating than this, but he still froze. He didn't hear Amber urging him to be still, and when he shifted, the snake turned slightly, facing him.

Logically he was safe, he was probably outside the lunging distance of the serpent, but he listened to her words this time and froze. She was swaying, in time with the snake he noticed, almost hypnotizing it.

He didn't speak, just watched, now fascinated as the beautiful vampire stalked the clearly pissed off serpent.

 

[AngelofDeath]

Amber tried to keep her focus on the present and not the past. Not an almost similar incident that had taken her from her human life and opened the door for the vampiric one. Another hiss as the cobra raised its body even more made her tremble lightly. It would have been easier to have Petrov grab the snake. It didn't matter that the dog had been fed her blood as a pup, and could take most anything. It was simply the fact this was one old demon, the vampire had to take care of herself.

She took half a step back and suddenly dropped her hand. The cobra lunged for her, but Amber was faster. A pained moan left her mouth as fangs met flesh. It never got the chance to strike a second time as her hand clenched hard, severing its spine internally. With a groan she pried the fangs from her flesh as she walked into the kitchen. Roderick was getting up just as the butcher knife came down, making sure the snake was dead.

The bites from Petrov were slowly closing up. Amber blinked a few times as the poison worked its way though her system. When she was sure she could walk she turned the sink on and began to rinse, blood, venom and dog saliva from her hand. "Well some one wanted to get my attention. They have it." Grabbing a dish towel she wrapped it around her hand and reached into the fridge to pull out the half empty bottle of blood which she proceeded to down. It would help with the healing and speed up the time it took her body to metabolize the venom.

Petrove was busy sniffing at the box, his muzzle jostling it until it fell to the floor. The dog snorted loudly and made his way to the kitchen to rub up against his owner.

 

[Last_Rider]

In the moments following the death of the reptile, Roderick sat in stunned silence. She was so fast, it was like a dream, fuzzy around the edges and the details of her movements slipped away when you tried to focus on them.

When Amber moved to the kitchen he stepped to the box. Using a pen, he poked around the roses, surprised to find a sealed envelope under them. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but it either implicated or exonerated the delivery boy.

If he was innocent, someone had simply told him the note was there. If he wasn't, then he'd set the whole thing up. He checked the name on the box, making a quick call to the office. He wanted to be sure that place was legitimate, though it probably was.

Something odd though, why Amber?

It started his mind working again, revising what he thought he was looking for, the notion that he might now be too close not really crossing his mind.

"Are you alright Amber?"

 

[AngelofDeath]

At first Amber shook her head, then realized that Roderic couldn't see her so she lifted her head and pushed here hair back with her good hand, "Oh just peachy. Its not everyday someone sends your roses and a cobra." Walking back into the living room with Petrov right behind her she found him holding a sealed envelope in his hand. "So there was a card." She held her hand up to show the wounds closing, if a bit slowly.

"I'll live, but doesn't mean this all doesn't hurt." She looked at the wolfhound, "And you need to learn how to talk. Though it was my own fault for not listening the first time." Amber gave the shaggy head a couple pats before Petrov went to lay down.

"I'm actually a vampire because of one of those. A painful death or a long unlife and having to drink blood. Wasn't that hard when it meant I did not have to leave my master behind." Picking the card up she looked it over before opening it. Inside the card was the typical florist card though the handwriting was far too neat for it to have been written by anyone, but the person who had placed the snake inside.

"Here is my second gift to you. Hopefully you will enjoy it," she read the words aloud. Amber flipped it onto the table. "Well that really doesn't help anything. I mean its common knowledge that snake venom has no effect on us. Well not one bite anyways. A few more bites and I would have been weak and vulnerable as my body fought off the venom, whereas if I had been human I'd be dead." Reaching down she picked up the single red rose, her hand crushed the still closed bud.

Her hand grew wet and when she opened it there was a small amount of blood, not from a thorn, but from the rose itself. Raising her hand she sniffed it, it was Vincent's blood. Her eyes seemed to grow a few shades darker. "I am going to personally stake this bastard out for the damn myself."

 

[Last_Rider]

Roderick watched as Amber reacted. She was angry, furious, hurt. Normally he'd have tried to comfort her, but he knew better. She wouldn't be comforted, not yet.

Instead, he looked over the rest of the box. This was interesting, from a purely clinical perspective. Was the box a personal shot at Amber, or was this the type of thing that he just did?

"We need to know if this is part of his standard procedure. If he's targeting you specifically or if this is just something he does to further your pain. Either way it will tell us a great deal."

He really needed to talk to the over vampires, but they were beyond leery of him and his kind. They had every reason to be, his department was the latest incarnation of tormentors they'd had to deal with for most of their existence. The fact that they were the most fair incarnation didn't matter, being more fair than an inquisition covered a lot of ground.

"Maybe it's symbolic," a whole different line of thinking slipping into his mind, "the symbol of your first death and rebirth, or he's trying to show that you can be weakened."

The lack of information he had was really starting to annoy him, a few decent clues could finalize what he was looking for. If he knew that, Roderick was sure they could catch him.

"You sure you're ok Amber?"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Yes and no. And whatever the meaning, the sick fuck has guaranteed that I will not stop looking for them." She reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of blood. Amber sighed softly, "Bet you didn't expect to have this happen when you took this on did you?" Of course technically Roderick was working off the clock. She was sure his boss wouldn't be too happy about it, but if it got the case closed and no more donors died, he'd probably get a promotion. Filling the glass again Amber looked at her hand again. How she had died wasn't common knowledge, so whoever it was had to know her somehow or knew someone close to her to have been able to get that information.

Reaching under the sink she pulled out the trash bin and walked back into the living room and proceeded to throw away both the snake carcass and the roses. The rose that had been filled with Vincent's blood was the last to be thrown away. Amber then tied the bag closed and sighed. The night was certainly not shaping up which could only mean things were going to just get more frustrating. "If we were going to any other club after this I might have said it was a bad idea for you to tag along, but Sasha and Misha run a very tight ship. The odds of anything, funny happening are very low."

 

[Last_Rider]

He watched her as she disposed of the package. She was different, not just because she was a vampire either. He couldn't get a read on her, normally he could at least make an educated guess as to what was going on in someone's head, with her he had no idea.

"As long as you're sure you wont be hurt by bringing a human into a club."

For some reason this case was really dragging on him. Normally they didn't, not like this. He could sympathize with victims, that was one of his strong points, but he could also turn that off if he chose too. He felt like week old coffee slag.

"Who would know how you died? I'm guessing that wasn't random, it was someone sending a message specifically for you."

This might be too personal, his understanding was that how a vampire died was something that was kept within very close friends.

 

[AngelofDeath]

"As long as you're sure you wont be hurt by bringing a human into a club." Well you won't be the only one there. This is more a private club, invite only you know. you have to be either a vampire and a welcome one at that or in your case human, invited or someone's lover. Its a little too much for most donors, so only those who truly understand what it means to love the undead and be amongst us get passed the doors."

Amber sighed softly and stood up straight. Roderick's next question only half caught her off guard. She had been expecting him to ask about that sooner or later. "It really depends on how you died and who you used to be. Some deaths are far more public and some vampires more well known. To answer your question more directly I can think of maybe fifteen vampires who know. Either because I knew them from that time or shortly there after. There was a time when being turned and having no teacher was a great danger. Not only for the new vampire but for the community as a whole and back then threats were dealt with the old fashion way."

Her right index finger traced over her neck slowly. What she didn't mention though was that anyone who had the ability to access the information on their donors would probably be able to find out just about anything on the vampires being serviced.

"Honestly everything should go fine. People will be too busy mourning to really notice a new face." A small grimace crossed on her face thinking about all the apologies and sympathy that would sent her way. It wasn't that Amber wouldn't appreciate the gesture, but she was rather private and the vampire didn't want to see the same pain in another's eyes. Knowing they too had suffered the same devastating loss the only difference being Amber was two steps ahead of the rest towards finding a answer...maybe.

 

[Last_Rider]

Roderick listened. It was another of his strong points, his ability to assimilate information and analyze it. Knowledge like Amber was describing would be difficult to obtain, but not impossible. Especially if someone was hacking into secured systems.

"Well, a simple fact gathering trip then."

Grief was an odd thing, Roderick knew that as well as just about anyone. All the time spent giving bad news to family members, spending so much time around grief. It was one of the main reasons people left the job, couldn't take all the raw emotion.

"If you know those fifteen, we can start there at least. Probably cross most of them off quick enough, but it's a place to start."

The case was definitely dragging on him, but it wasn't just the facts. It was the undercurrent. Whoever was doing this was deliberately causing this much pain, that level of sadism. They also had a level of appreciation for sadism, hurting the immortals. Pain on that level, lasting that long, it was almost an art form.

 

[AngelofDeath]

Amber nodded slowly, "We'll manage." She turned and began to walk towards the couch when her legs buckled slightly. "Shit." Amber had caught herself before she collapse completely. Injuries were a bitch to recover from when they weren't minor. "I'll be fine by this evening, but I'm just going to have to take it easy until then and will probably go through another bottle of blood or two." Her hand was still throbbing from both bites.

Standing up fully again Amber looked at Roderick. He was handsome, that much was true and if they had met under different situations and he wasn't a Spook things might have been different. Well different in the sense that she would have been willing to consider something with him. Realizing where her head was going Amber looked away and made it to the couch without trouble this time.

"Are you...will your job been affected by this? I mean I haven't been officially ruled out yet as a suspect and you are working off the clock on this." Roderick was probably the best shot the vampires would have at finding the killer. Not to mention making sure that this case was actually taken seriously. If his bosses pulled him off because they felt he was being compromised that would set things back. There was also the fact that while vampires had no problem policing themselves, something like this was bound to lead to a messy death or two and god forbid public deaths. No this was going to have to be worked out the human way.

 

[Last_Rider]

Roderick felt a little awkward, Amber was almost infinitely faster and stronger than he was, but his impulse to help her when she stumbled was strong. When she mentioned needing some more blood he found it in the fridge and brought it to her when she finally managed to recline on the couch.

"Are you...will your job been affected by this? I mean I haven't been officially ruled out yet as a suspect and you are working off the clock on this."

"You'll be ruled out tomorrow most likely. I doubt there was ever much serious consideration of you, but with so many dead and so much pressure being laid on us the brass was pretty desperate for some kind of progress. I'll be cross-referencing your known locations with the other victims times of death, I seriously doubt you'll remain viable."

He sat on the couch by her legs, and closed his eyes. God he felt worn down. Whoever this guy was, and Roderick still mentally referred to the killer as male, had a knack for making this really difficult. Not only didn't the vampires trust the authorities, and who could blame them, but the notion that one of their own could be doing this seemed to not register on some level. Vampires were a lot like people, some good and some bad. And then others were downright evil.

"Don't worry too much about my job. They wont pull me off the case, I'm the only somewhat friendly face the vampire community has seen. Take me off and the outrage will only grow. I'm not bulletproof or anything, but having a good reputation offers pretty solid security."

It was an unconscious action, but one of his hands was rubbing her ankle and calf as they both relaxed on the couch.