CHAPTER 24
I wake up in the late afternoon with the blankets all rumpled on the bed. I must’ve been fighting something in my sleep. I lean over the bed to check on Rick, who is mysteriously not on the floor. I sit up and see the comforters neatly folded and resting at the end of the bed. Order among my chaos. That’s either the mix for a perfect team or utter disaster. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see about that.
I stretch while getting up to check the rest of the apartment for Rick. I glance at the clock which reads 3:45 p.m. Huh. Looks like I slept a little late. Or Rick is just an early riser, which doesn’t make sense considering his nighttime inclinations.
I stumble into the living room and that’s when I hear it – the faint but unmistakable sound of the shower running. Rick in the shower. Naked in the shower. Okay, I need the distraction of coffee.
By the time I have the coffee brewing, Rick emerges from the bathroom, his back close to the wall as he inches back toward the bedroom.
“Good afternoon,” I say a little too loudly.
He turns to me after he gets to the doorway of the bedroom, leaning against the jamb. His chest glistening, with a towel – my towel – wrapped snuggly around his hips and his discarded clothes in his hands. “Good afternoon, Emma.”
I arch an eyebrow at him. “Do you need anything?”
“No, I just needed a shower to scrub the remnants of the last evening off. Unfortunately I don’t have a change of clothes, so that will have to wait until we get back to the facility.”
“I could offer you one of my yoga outfits.”
His lips twitch. “As tempting as that sounds, I think I’ll pass.” He turns to go into the bedroom.
“You’re probably right,” I call after him. “They’re probably too big for your buff frame.” I immediately smack myself in the face. What was the point in saying that? Hurry up, coffee maker. I need to wake up my brain filters stat.
I finally get my cup of hot, black sanity and go back to the bedroom. Rick is already dressed and sitting on the end of the bed. He looks up at me, his hair wet and dangling in the way of those enigmatic lavender eyes. I sit on the side of the bed and take a slow but hearty drink from my cup. “Would you like some coffee?” I ask.
“No thanks, I’m fine.”
“Do you need anything else? Sorry, but I’m all out of blood.”
He turns to me, grinning, “Oh, I’m sure you have a vein or two that’s full.”
My mouth drops open as he laughs. “I’m only kidding. I’ll eat when we get back to the facility. And get some new clothes.” He looks down at his shirt and pants and makes a show of brushing some unseen grubbiness from the cloth.
“You can get clothes at the facility?”
He looks up at me, slightly turning on the bed. “Yes. Since some of the people working there are vampires, they have made accommodations for us. It was actually part of the employment agreement. Many vampires will not take this type of job without it.”
“What type of accommodations?” I ask.
“Well, you already know about the donation of the administrators. We also have a place to sleep, store clothes and shower rooms.”
“Shower rooms?”
“Like many stalls in one big room. Like you might have experienced in secondary school,” he explained.
“Oh, not me. I don’t take my clothes off in front of other people.”
His eyes narrow slightly as he regards me. “An interesting tidbit of knowledge about you. I’ll have to keep that in mind.” His voice is low and almost predatory, in a very salacious way.
I clear my throat and look down into my cup of coffee before busying myself with another drink. When I finally have the nerve to look up at him, I smile timidly. “I’m going to go ahead and shower and get ready.”
He nods, smiling. “Good. We’ll leave when the sun goes down.”
Once it was safe to go outside, we drive in near silence to the research facility. I arrive at the suite alone as Rick makes his way to the vampire quarters to get further cleaned up and fed for the evening.
I look through all of our notes that are in the drawers of the center island. We still have a ways to go with this project. We have learned that vitamin D is the source of vampire fatality when it comes to the sun, but using vitamin D alone is too unstable. Thalia’s reaction showed that the vampire would almost go crazy in pain and had a few precious moments to wreak havoc on the closest possible human. Not exactly the result we were targeting. The goal was to save human lives, not possibly cause more human deaths.
I turn, my backside resting against the center island as I look at the notes scribbled across the whiteboard. After thinking for a few moments, I let out a rather puzzled “huh” to be heard by only myself, and maybe Gwen in the observation room. Our solution effectively killed Thalia, causing an acid-like burn with eventual explosion that we have yet to explain. Bree’s and Abe’s solution incapacitated Thalia. Maybe what we need to do is figure out a way to implement both approaches to effectively destabilize vampires while the vitamin D burns them to a gory, piñata death.
Okay, obviously the trauma of having vampire bits sprayed all over me has caused me to lapse into an almost sophomorically inappropriate line of thinking. When I try to analyze this later, I will probably realize that it’s nothing more than a defense mechanism and I’m not really making light in all of the darkness.
The door opens, and I turn to see Rick walking in with a bottle of Coke in his hand. I raise my eyebrows at him, “Switching from hemoglobin to caffeine?”
“It’s for you. I was at the cafeteria and thought you might be thirsty. I know I was.”
I try not to grimace at the thought of him getting his drink from one of the administrators, probably Rita. But, hey, he is thinking about me and what I might need or want. I’ll have to analyze that later, too. I take the bottle from his hand. “Thanks.”
“Have you come up with anything?” he asks.
“Sort of. It has just dawned on me that we would have the perfect approach if we combined our project with Bree’s and Abe’s.”
He nods. “That would definitely help with keeping intended targets from thrashing out and hurting anyone before the vitamin D can take effect.”
“Which is exactly what we need to do. So, do you remember what Bree had said were the chemicals they used in their solution?”
“Saline and alcohol at elevated levels and mortuary-grade formaldehyde. Simple enough, but we will have to test for the possible reactions with the vitamin D,” he replied.
“It definitely wouldn’t help if the other elements destroyed the effectiveness of the vitamin D. It would just render the solution pointless.”
Rick appears to chew at his bottom lip as he regards me. “There may be another option.”
“Which is?” I ask.
“Well, in the very least we could develop a dual delivery system so that the actual saline-alcohol-formaldehyde solution doesn’t touch the vitamin D until it hits the vampire. At that point there most likely wouldn’t be enough time for any molecular destruction before the vampire begins to, um, deconstruct.”
My brows raised in wonder and appreciation. “That’s actually an excellent idea. That way we can go ahead with the final demonstration without any further tests. If it works the way we think it will, we can head off the possibility of another team beating us to the punch. Or the splat, as it were.”
Rick looks at me with a somewhat shocked expression on his face.
“Sorry. I’ve recently embraced humor as an inappropriate, yet effective, way to deal with stress.”
He walks over to me and places his hands on my shoulders. “We’re doing the right thing. What we have accomplished here at this research facility will surely save hundreds, if not thousands, of human lives.”
His gaze deepens as his thumbs lightly caress the front of my shoulders, soothing me while igniting a fire in my veins. My lips part as I stare up at him, trying to remember what I should say as it feels like all the blood drains from my face. My lips quiver as I try to smile. “I know. I just need the mental wall to dam the flood of internal conflict. Logically I know that not all death is senseless. That doesn’t mean I want to be the one pulling the proverbially trigger.”
He runs his hands down my arms as he takes a step back and leans his hip against the center island. “It’s a step in the right direction. I don’t think any of us actually enjoy that part of it. If we did, vampire or not, I would have to question our mental stability. What we have to come to terms with, what we have to accept is that we’re the ones that have to make these decisions because we’re the ones who have the intellect and talent to solve these very delicate problems.
The corner of his mouth turns up in a half smile. “Don’t feel guilty for having a great mind. That’s your gift to humanity. Feel badly that people and vampires have to act the way they do so that it makes government-funded projects like this necessary.”
I look at him, in awe of what he is saying, the perspective he is imparting to me that I’m unsure I would have ever noticed.
He continues, “If it weren’t for criminal behavior coupled with violent discrimination, we wouldn’t be making these decisions. Place the blame where it’s deserved. Not on yourself.”
Before I can think of the repercussions, I lean forward and wrap my arms around his abdomen in a tight embrace. I lay my face against his chest as he slowly encircles me with his arms. “Thank you,” I murmur against him. He leans back a bit to look down at me. I meet his gaze, “For giving me a different way to look at things. For a different explanation, a different focus. It makes more sense then just trying to laugh at everything.” My fingers clinch against his back as wetness fills the corners of my eyes.
He smiles then whispers, “My pleasure, Emma.”
I sniffle then lean away from him, resting against the island again. “Okay, let’s develop this delivery system and schedule a demonstration for all of the project teams. I just wish we had more time.”
“Why do you say that?” he asks.
“Well, think about it,” I begin my thought-process pacing. “We’ve developed something that can be sprayed onto a vampire, sort of like mace or pepper spray. The goal was to come up with a solution to the criminal element in the vampire population and prevent human deaths. Just like mace and pepper spray, it all depends on having it readily available and making sure that you hit your target. Many times you have to be at a closer range to hit that target, and many people don’t want to get that close to a vampire.”
He turns, looking at me. “Okay, fair enough. But it is a solution that will work. We can improve upon the delivery later.”
I shrug, “I just wish we could come up with something…I don’t know. Almost like birth control. Vampire birth control or human death control or whatever. Something that humans can ingest, inject or even wear a patch so that when a vampire bites, BOOM, vampire salsa.”
He stares at me with a cool expression on his face. Suddenly feeling like I’m under a microscope, I cross my arms over my chest, hugging myself tightly.
“Sorry. Inappropriate humor again. But you get what I’m saying. Besides, who’s to say that we’ll get a chance to improve the delivery system later? They’ll probably just take over the project and do what they want with it anyway.”
He walks over to me and gently rests his hands on my upper arms. With the lines on his face softening. “If FOHVA is just going to do what it wants with the project, then why not just finish it now with what we have? We can each take our fifty thousand dollars and walk away. Or we can debate and spend more time on perfecting a solution that already works, while another team comes up with an equally workable idea.”
I feel my lips pout as I hug myself tighter, his fingers gently rubbing up and down my arms. I suddenly feel like a spastic child who is being comforted by the compassionate parent. Who just happens to have fangs.
The sound of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” begins lightly playing. Rick cocks an eyebrow at me as I step back away from him. I pull my cell phone from my pocket as he laughs under his breath, his eyes glistening with amusement.
“It’s a local number, but I don’t know who would be calling me.” I walk to the front of the suite to talk on my phone in semi-private. It’s Officer Davis, hopefully with some good news.
I halfway notice Rick leave the room while I discuss the graffiti incident at my apartment. Unfortunately the Rowan police do not have any real leads and it’s unlikely that we’ll ever know who was responsible, just like I had feared yesterday.
I put my phone back in my pocket and sit at the table near the door to clear my mind in the blissful silence. Who knows if Tucker was the one who left the message painted across my apartment door? My gut tells me it was him, but I could be wrong. I’ll probably never know. I just hope that I never run into him again. And if I do, I hope I’m not alone.
Rick returns with a box full of supplies. He lays the box on the table, tubes sticking out of the top. It’s as if they are plastic fingers pointing in accusation at us, but I resolve not to think too much about that.
“Any news?” he asks.
“Nothing good,” I reply, “except for the fact that Tucker has skipped town.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Officer Davis said that given the recent, um, argument between us that they wanted to question him. When they arrived at his apartment, everything was packed up and gone. I guess no one has seen him since he was relieved of his duties as an archivist.”
Rick hums in thought. “That’s not necessarily good news, though. Just because we don’t know where he is doesn’t mean that he has skipped town. He could still be around somewhere, hiding out. Especially if he is the one that vandalized your apartment.”
“Gee, thanks. As if I needed more reason to look over my shoulder.”
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll stay with you while you’re in Rowan so you won’t ever be alone.” He smiles at me sympathetically. At least I hope it’s sympathy and not fatherly. Or in Rick’s case, grandfatherly.
“Thanks. What’s in the box?”
He taps the sides of the box with his fingers. “I’ve got everything we need to build a rudimentary, dual delivery system. I also got us the other chemicals that we need to go along with the vitamin D powder.”
We walk back to the center island where Rick begins to empty the contents of the box in an orderly, organized way. I hesitate momentarily before asking another question. I just don’t want Rick to basically tell me to get over my misplaced morality over the project.
“Um, with Thalia gone, where will we find another subject for the demonstration?”
He looks up at me. “Just like there is no shortage of human criminals, there is no shortage of vampire criminals. I’m sure there are more in the holding cells in the other building.”
“There are more holding cells than the one that Thalia was in?”
“Quite a few. There’s an entire makeshift prison in the lower levels of that building. It’s one of the only facilities in the U.S. that has been able to successfully imprison vampires.”
I look down at all of the equipment that now patterns the counter top. Various thoughts, both curious and morbid, race through my mind as if they’re trying to see which comes out of my mouth first.
“How many?” I ask.
“How many cells?” he responds.
“No, how many vampires.”
He cocks his head to the side as he watches me, probably waiting for an Emma-style righteousness meltdown to ensue. After a few moments he says, “Enough. I don’t know the exact number, but there are quite a few. Unfortunately many of my kind have a complete disregard for human life.”
I nod in acceptance, restraining the pull in my abdomen that urges me to protest. “I guess that’s understandable considering how many humans have a complete disregard for human life.”
Switching gears, Rick motions to the items he has systematically laid on the counter top. “Making the delivery system is really simple. We just need this split container, much like your everyday sport bottle. We put the vitamin D, diluted with water on one side and the saline, alcohol and formaldehyde on the other side. We then just use the plastic tubing and springs to make a trigger system on the top of the container. When the trigger is squeezed, the mixture will be forced from the container and like you said, BOOM, vampire salsa.”
I jerk my head to look at him as he smiles enthusiastically at me. “And here I thought you were upset by that comment.”
“Only if it were an undeserving vampire. Or if I were wearing an expensive suit at the time. Then I’d be really pissed.”
I actually guffaw. “Now who’s making inappropriate jokes?”
“Well, I figure laughing is better than the alternative,” he explains.
“I’m glad you’re finally seeing things my way,” I counter.
He leans toward me, with an almost menacing look in his eyes. “Not in everything, Dr. Burcham.”
With a spurt of nerve, I punch him in the shoulder. “Right. We still disagree on what is best to have for dinner, and I don’t think either of our opinions will change any time soon.”
He laughs heartily. “If only the entire project had held such mirth.”
I smile brightly at him. “I guess we need to schedule the demonstration since putting the delivery system together won’t take that long.”
A buzzing sound erupts above us before Gwen says, “I just notified Mr. Caulfield. The conference room will be ready for the demonstration within an hour.”
Looking up at the ceiling I say, “Well, I guess that part’s done. Thanks, Gwen.”
Loud buzzing again. “You’re welcome, Emma.”
I look back at Rick who nods at me, “One hour, then it’s show time.”
Yay?