Business Makes Strange Bedfellows (2 page)

"As you may know, I'm a member of The Society for the Study of the New Science of Reanimation Through Galvanism. About a week ago, I was working in the Society's laboratory, preparing a cadaver for experimentation. When I cut into the body, however, something came out." Gert swallowed hard. "Something like nothing I have ever seen before. It was large and black, with tentacle-like appendages, a bulbous body, many eyes, and a huge mouth. It devoured the body it had come out of and then came after me. I managed to beat the creature off, but it escaped into the city." She reached for the newspapers she had brought. "The very next day, the first body was found." She handed Vi the newspapers. "I presume you've heard of the Dock Dismemberer?"

"Yes, I've read the articles in the papers." Vi took the newspapers from Gert and glanced through them, each dating from the last few days, each containing an account—in particularly purple prose—of a new body found.

"I believe these killings are being perpetrated by the monster." She clasped her hands together in her lap. "Which makes me partly responsible. I know all too well that the police will not listen to such a story, neither would most in the private sector, but Dr. Hornridge assures me you have experience in matters that cannot be easily explained."

Vi set aside the newspapers and fixed her with an expression she could not quite read. "Dr. Hornridge is correct," Vi said after a long moment. "I can help you in this matter, but for a price."

"Name your price." She felt slightly relieved. This, at least, she had expected. "I have considerable means with which to pay."

"Money?" Vi tipped her head to one side. "Oh, yes, for who has not heard of the Bower shipping empire, or for that matter, the court cases surrounding your gaining of that empire after your father's death?"

Vi leaned forward, and Gert did not like the almost predatory look in her eyes. Her hands tightened into fists in her lap. Vi made it sound easy, made her sound like some sort of shrewd mastermind, not simply desperate and out of options.

"And you won." Vi sat back again. "The scandal of the decade, I think I read. No, Dr. Bower, I don't want your money."

Gert frowned at that. "Then what?"

Vi was suddenly no longer sitting in the armchair across the fire, but on the settee with Gert, leaning in far too close. "You spoke with Dr. Hornridge." Vi's voice had deepened slightly, and her breath was hot against the side of Gert's face "I am sure he warned you about me, about what I am and how I live."

Gert's hands were now clenched so tightly in her lap that her fingers ached. "Yes." She turned to face Vi and found herself only inches away from pale blue eyes. "He told me you are a Nightwalker—a vampire."

"Indeed, I am." A small smile still played across Vi's lips, and she studied Gert's face. She did not flinch, or lower her own eyes, and Vi's smile broadened. "And as for payment, well—I have, shall we say, peculiar tastes even for one of my kind, and it has been a long time since anyone gave themselves to me willingly." Vi's voice was a deep purr, and she leaned forward, her lips so close to Gert's neck she fancied she could feel the soft brush of them on her skin. Vi inhaled deeply and then sat back, crossing one leg over the other, her voice taking on a more businesslike tone. "And let us be clear here, so there is no misunderstanding later on. What I am asking you for is one night; I will not kill you or drain you even close to death, but I want to sample your no doubt lovely blood, as well as your equally lovely body."

Gert stared at her while her mind tried to wrap itself around what Vi had just proposed. "You want me to—what?"

Vi stood and walked to fireplace, opening a small case on the mantle and taking out a cigarette. "I want you to agree to spend one night with me. During which I will taste, but not damage, your body. In return, I will hunt down and dispose of the beast that has been killing people these last few days."

She lit the cigarette and took a long drag, blowing smoke out towards the ceiling.

It was insane. She would be insane to agree to such a proposal, to trust Vi at all. This was no human, but a creature who freely admitted to preying upon others to live. To put herself willingly in such a creature's hands was suicide.

Unbidden, the endless stream of newspaper article and headlines describing the mutilated, half-eaten bodies that had been found filled her mind. The people—men and women—who already strove to make a living despite hardship and poverty had died because she had failed to stop the creature when she'd had the chance. If she did not do this, how many more would die? No, she could not, in good conscience, let it terrorize New York, putting every citizen at risk. If Vi could find and kill this monster, then Gert could sacrifice herself for one night. For the good of New York.

"Deal."

Vi looked vaguely surprised. "Are you sure?"

She squared her shoulders and sat up straighter. "Yes. Find the creature and destroy it. After you have done that, I will submit for one night to whatever you please, as long as it does not threaten my life."

Vi smiled. "Good. I look forward to it. Now, I'm sure you want to get back to your own apartments."

She strode across the room. Standing Gert straightened out her jacket, feeling relieved. She wasn't sure what she'd been afraid of happening after she'd agreed. Whatever she had feared had not come to pass, though, and she collected her hat, cane, and overcoat as Vi showed her to the door.

"Have a safe evening, and I will be in touch." Vi smiled down at her and then shut the door.

Gert made her way back down the stairs to hail herself a cab.

*~*~*

"Professor Thompson." Gert greeted the older, rather stout man in question when he met her at the front doors of Columbia University's Low Memorial Library. "How kind of you to come see me yourself."

Professor Thompson gave her a rather sour look. "How can I help you, Dr. Bower?"

"I need to use your library, as it happens. The occult collection." She smiled and tipped up the brim of her top hat. "And I believe you owe me a favor."

For a minute, she thought Thompson would actually try to refuse her, but then he sighed. "This way, Dr. Bower, but try to make it quick."

She smiled, showing too many teeth. "Of course. I wouldn't want to waste Columbia's time."

Professor Thompson led the way through the halls of Low Memorial before pushing open the wooden double doors that led to the room where this particular special collection was housed. Columbia University's library was massive. The three floors of shelves contained hundreds of thousands of volumes, but it was the fact that they held this particular collection, focused on the paranormal, that interested her. Not that she was allowed to visit particularly often. Most of the faculty disliked her for her gender, and those who might have ordinarily overlooked that disliked her for unrepentantly dabbling in the occult and such theories as reanimation.

Turning to Thompson, she forced another smile. "Thank you, Professor; you may leave now."

Thompson's lips thinned, and his eyes narrowed. "I'll be back in a two hours, after my lecture."

She nodded, and he turned, stalking out of the collection room and closing the double doors behind him with a bang. Setting aside her things at the rack by the door, Gert got to work.

The research she was looking for turned out to be in a slim, leather-bound volume and a large file of papers. Flipping through the volume, she stifled a sigh. It was far too speculative for her liking, so she set it aside and untied the strings on the file and pulled the papers out.

Some of them were new, some obviously copies of much older tomes, but all of them were detailed eyewitness accounts of vampires.

After about forty minutes of reading, her mounting feeling of frustration had only intensified. Some of the accounts described vampires as unnaturally pale, while others described them as being dark and bloated with blood. Most, but not all, of the papers laid out across the table described the vampires as feeding on blood from living creatures through elongated fangs. The sources varied widely on the powers of the vampires, with some claiming they could fly, change their shape, and control people's minds, while other sources attributed to them no powers at all. The best method of killing a vampire ranged from a metal rod through the heart, to burning them, to finding them while they slept and smashing their teeth out and shoving a brick or large stone in their mouths.

Gert sat back, feeling unsatisfied. The records gave her very little clue on what to expect, or how to deal with Vi De Luca. Pulling out her pocket watch, Gert checked the time and then gathered up the papers and put them back into the file.

"Dr. Bower." She looked up to see Professor Thompson standing by the door."It is time for you to leave."

Gert set aside the file and went to collect her overcoat and the rest of her things.

She thought about what she'd read on the ride back to her apartment, and thought about what little Dr. Hornridge had told her. Her mind turned to Vi, the coolness of her touch, the way she'd smelled of smoke overlaying the scent of lavender and dry leaves. There had been open desire in Vi's eyes when she had looked at her. It had been a long time since anyone looked at her like that.

Gert had agreed to spend a night with Vi, this vampire—a creature she knew next to nothing about. All her common sense must have deserted her in that moment. She considered stopping the carriage and sending a note to Vi right then and there, calling the deal off.

But would it really be that bad, another part of her mind asked, to share her bed with someone who truly desired her again after all this time? Gert looked down at her gloved fingers lying in her lap, curled around her cane. She hoped she had not made a grave mistake in striking the bargain, and hoped that if she had, she would be able to defend herself properly.

Turning, she watched the streets of New York pass by, mind turning to the creature. It was still out there somewhere, preying upon the unsuspecting populace. Gert's grip on her cane tightened, and she wondered when Vi would contact her with news. If no one else died, whatever price she would have to pay afterwards would be worth it.

*~*~*

The note came three days later.

Meet me at the corner of Mott and Cross St. at eight o'clock this evening. I have information for you.

De Luca.

Mott and Cross Street lay in the heart of the notorious Five Points district. So Gert dressed in plain brown trousers, waistcoat, heavy dark overcoat, and cap. She also dug the revolver out of her writing desk and made sure it was loaded before tucking it away in her overcoat.

Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Gert felt pleased. She was of about average height but with a build that was usually described as 'ample'—most of it muscle at this point from hauling bodies on and off examination tables. Dressed as she was now, and with her dark, curling hair cropped short above her ears, she could easily be mistaken for a young man who made his living working on the docks or about the warehouses of the shipping district.

The cab dropped her only a few paces from the corner of Mott and Cross. Alighting from the carriage, Gert scanned the darkened street, looking for Vi. Light shone from most of the shops that lined the streets as well as coming from the tenement buildings. Even here, the city was never in true darkness. Vi was not hard to find, leaning against one brick wall at the corner of a laundry and the narrow alleyway beside it. She was dressed in black today, with a dark blue waistcoat and top hat. Folding the newspaper she'd been reading, Vi turned towards her.

"You wished to speak with me?"

"Yes." Vi nodded, all business.

Gert leaned one shoulder against the wall of the laundry as well, facing Vi, her back to the street, and crossed her arms. "Well?"

"Your summation of the situation was correct. The creature has been behind these killings and is lurking somewhere down by the harbor, as far as I can tell. But what I am more interested in is where it came from." Vi folded the newspaper in half again and tucked it under her arm.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it must have come from somewhere." Vi brought her unmarred hand up and rubbed it across her face. "These kinds of creatures usually stick to the deep sea, mountains, and underground. Forgotten places, where humans have never been. Furthermore, the creature you described and the one my contacts have described leads me to believe it is not fully grown yet. So, for this creature to have ended up in New York in the first place, it must have been brought here." Vi leaned more fully against the wall. Gert stepped closer and saw Vi's hands were shaking, and she had taken on a grey-greenish tint.

"What is the matter with you?" She reached out, fingers wrapping around Vi's upper arms, feeling her muscles tense.

Grimacing, Vi shook her head. "It's nothing, not your concern. I have someone for you to meet, which is why I called you down here in the first place."

Vi turned and led the way down the alleyway until she came to a heavy metal door and knocked on it. The door was pushed open by a slight, young Chinese man wearing a white smock over his dark trousers and shirt.

"George Wong," Vi said, "this is Dr. Bower, could you tell her what you told me?"

George Wong turned to give her a once-over. "You sure you want to hear this?" When Gert nodded, he shrugged. "I didn't see it, you understand, but I know a guy who works on the docks hauling freight, and he found the first body. Kelly, my friend, said he'd been torn all to hell, most of his head and face was gone. But he saw something else, too; he said it looked like a huge octopus but black with glowing red eyes and teeth. He said it crawled off under one of the piers."

"And then what?" Gert asked.

"There is no 'then what'. He ran."

"Thank you," Vi said, and he nodded at her.

"Anytime."

"I owe you."

George Wong smiled at Vi. "You do."

"Take care of yourself." Vi took her by the arm. "And stay off the streets at night. I would hate to see you get hurt."