Nosphorus: Part I - Act 3
Niki caught the child as he launched himself at her, his face twisting and gnashing as though he were a feral animal. She tumbled to the ground with the little yellow raincoat-wearing animal in her arms.
No sooner had she hit the ground than Logan scooped the child up and tossed him a good ten feet from the two of them. Impossibly, the child landed on his feet and turned viciously around to snarl at them, his eyes white and bloodshot now. He opened his small mouth a hissed, showing his pointed teeth.
Logan made a feint towards him, raising his arms and shouting as he might to a dog or bear. The child’s eyes suddenly cleared and he ran crying into the darkness. A light rain began to fall.
Niki got to her feet with a helping hand from her lover. “What the hell was that?” she demanded, brushing the dirt from her pants and shaking her jacket. “Were we here to save the kid or the vamps?”
“It looks like the kid had everything under control,” Logan agreed, pulled the collar higher on his neck in light of the rain. “I think we’ve just had our first encounter with a sufferer of the vampire plague.”
“Should we try and capture him?” Niki started into the darkness after the child but Logan stopped her.
“We’ll never find him tonight,” he sounded very much to Niki like he was trying to excuse his reluctance to go chasing the creature, but he continued without a break in logic. “And we wouldn’t know what to do with him even if we did. Until we do... it’s obvious he can take care of himself.” Niki finally nodded.
“The least we can do is talk to Felix,” she said with resignation. “He seems to know a lot about this plague, and he mentioned the cure.”
Logan face was slightly marred by a distant frown. “This isn’t about Stuff, is it?” The two walked together in the direction of the Nail Biter. “I don’t like you using it. It’s playing hell with your nerves.”
“It keeps me awake and alert on long night patrols,” she said dismissively. “It’s no more addictive than caffeine, and no more harmful.”
“Some demons secrete it as a nerve toxin,” Logan countered angrily. “Don’t, for an instant, make the mistake of thinking I’m an idiot.”
Niki was silent for a long moment as they slowly drew near the unlit stairwell which led down to the Biter. At the top of the stairs the two of them stopped and she turned to him with her usual sullen expression. “This isn’t about Stuff. I only use it when I need it. I didn’t use tonight and I didn’t need tonight. It’s that simple.”
Logan placed a gentle hand on the side of her cheek. Her sullen eyes fell into his. “It’s scary when it’s that simple,” he said quietly. Soon they were at the bottom of the stairs and through the door to the Nail Biter.
There was a sigh of relief from those in the bar as they saw it was only the Slayer and her sidekick, not some vampire foaming at the mouth. Nonetheless, several clientele quickly slipped past them and bustled up the stairs.
Diego was waiting behind the bar, none too pleased. There was a head on the bar. Not the glass kind that the establishment sometimes displayed which was full of pickled eggs... this was the smiling head of the barkeep who had served the Slayer a beer just a few hours ago.
Niki and Logan’s eyes widened. Even in death Felix wore a smile, though it was now a gruesomely cynical, gallows smile as the severed head sat between the taps at the far end of the bar. Diego took in a deep nasal breath to begin berating the pair on their inability to protect his employees, but Niki and Logan were already on their way out.
Someone had killed Felix because he knew too much about the Nosphorus and his plan. And now they had no idea how to deal with this threat that seemed two steps ahead of them. They needed support. They needed... him.
Niki lifted the receiver and began punching in the numbers for the apartment in London. Considering the time in New York, it should be a reasonable hour in England.
As she had expected, though some part of her mind had secretly reserved hope against, he wasn’t at home and she left a message. The sooner he got it the better. Little by little, the city was being overrun by human-vampire hybrids and there was only one way to cure them — now lost with the death of their underworld contact.
Niki exhaled. Things had gotten too far out of control. She had let them get this way. They shouldn’t have waited to find the new arrival. They should have... she should have found it and killed it before that boy had woken up this morning. She should have pumped Felix for information while he was still alive: learning everything there was to know about the plague and it’s cure. But now the creature was gone without a trace she could follow and so was her flow of information. She had been lazy.
“Can’t handle life on your own?” came a patronizing voice from the door. Niki whipped her head around to see Pearce standing just in the hallway. “Calling for daddy when he’s only just unpacked?”
Logan strode angrily to the door and slammed it in the vampire’s face. When he got back to Niki, she had covered the distant, pondering look she often got when consumed with self depreciation and replaced it with a look of utter annoyance.
“Tell me again why we don’t just stake him?” the Slayer said harshly, slamming the receiver back on the phone.
“I thought you were here to tell me why,” Logan shrugged. “We’ll try calling again later. Maybe we can catch him at tea time.”
“Don’t bother calling him,” Pearce called from the hallway. “I already did. He’s on his way.”
Richard Addison ran his fingers through the white hair behind his receding hairline. His seatbelt was already buckled by the time the tiny light came on indicating they were beginning final descent. Procedures were in place for a reason. He was no more inclined to ignore this plane captain’s procedures than he was the Council’s. Perhaps Niki was now coming to realize just how much she depended on him. On the Council. Perhaps Pearce would no longer be needed. Just perhaps...
He felt the slight jolt as the tires hit the tarmac and the nearly imperceptible screech as the brakes kicked in. Soon he would be settled back in that awful little apartment, again trying to train that wretched little brat — who hopefully now would be a little more open to his wisdom.
The sun had just set in New York City. Addison glanced at his watch as he walked and spun the crown to the correct time. It would take him a few days before the jet lag–
“Excuse me,” he said apologetically as he disentangled himself from the figure with whom he had just collided. An old woman he had at first assumed, but now as the figure turned his face to the Watcher, Addison could see it was clearly no such thing.
The disentangling became a scuffle of arms and sleeves and Addison’s carry-on luggage and soon the two were shuffled out of the main stream of foot traffic to a secluded corner near the men’s washroom.
Addison quickly freed his arms from the black poncho and as he did so surreptitiously knocked the creature’s concealing hat from its head, immediately backing up several paces.
The Nosphorus hissed as it produced a hand from one fold of the poncho to cover its slightly inhuman features. Between splayed fingers its eyes darted back and forth among the passing people, assessing possible threats. Addison merely stared in dutiful silence.
The Watcher’s hand strayed into his suit coat’s inner pocket and retrieved the short, standard issue stake. The trick would be to dust this creature without making a scene. He looked about himself as the dark figure cowered lower into the shadows of the corner, farther out of sight of the passing crowds.
Addison felt through his pockets and retrieved four American one hundred dollar bills, crumpling them loosely into balls. He then let them fall inconspicuously between the scuffling feet of the travelers, backing away towards the frightened vamp.
It took less than six seconds for someone to notice the first bill, then three more people stopped, and soon everyone’s attention was directed at the floor to where some unlucky traveler had apparently dropped several hundred dollars.
Addison grinned. Huzzah for capitalism, he thought wryly. The grin was still on his face as he turned around to finish the vamp, but it dropped away as a strong hand found his throat, closing off his windpipe.
“Thank you,” said an Irish accent. “Now no one will see.” The elderly Watcher gave one desperate thrash against his captor before he was dragged through the doorway into the men’s washroom.
As the blood filled his mouth and warmed his throat, the Nosphorus felt with a tingling sensation the inhuman features drop away. He was fully human now, in appearance at least. Only other vampires would know his for what he was, and then it would be too late for them. Too late for everyone. He let the body sag to the floor of the stall, the pale cheek coming to rest on the toilet seat.
The Nosphorus wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Now that concealment was no longer a problem. It was time to get down to business.
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