Part Five
 

The sun shone golden and reflected bits of light through his wind-blown hair
as he pulled the older model convertible into the driveway that led to the
cemetery.  As soon as he drove through the gates, he spotted a small building
off to the side, and parked the Caddy by its entrance.  An old stone house
discolored from age stood off to the side of the opened wrought iron gates.
No one seemed to be around, so he got out of the car and stood by its side,
wishing that he did not have to be here.  He looked out over the level
terrain, scanning the vast acres of tombstones that occupied the area for as
far as his eyes could see.  So many lives that filled these grounds, each with
its own unique story.  Thousands upon thousands of humans most of whose lives
never touched, now rested side by side within these stone walls and massive
iron bars.  He shuddered when he thought of how many graveyards he had packed
with his past acts.  As sorrow threatened to drown him, he remembered why he
had come and made his way towards the caretaker's home.  This had been the
third public burial place that he had visited in as many days.  He was glad
that it was Vachon that was visiting these places at night rather than him.
It had always made him uneasy to linger among the dead.  Maybe he was
superstitious, or maybe he was just frightened of the revenge the dead might
like to take on him.  It was distressing enough to be here when the light
shown, but the dark was too foreboding.

Following the paving stones, he found himself at an arched wooden door with a
few quick steps.  Then stepping onto the welcome mat, he rang the doorbell.
The door suddenly swung opened before he could release the bell, and he jolted
back.

"Sorry to startle you by getting the door so fast, but I don't get much
company out here.  At least not living company."

With a cautious smile, Nick struggled to regain his composure and calm his
already grated nerves.  The man before him was not at all attractive.  He was
probably around his own age, yet he appeared to be about a generation older.
His skin was especially rough and jagged which was extremely apparent when he
grasped his hand to shake it.  There was not one hair that remained on his
head, and although laundered, grass and dirt permanently stained his clothes.
Trying to not appear revolted by the heavyset man with the swollen beer belly,
Nick eagerly accepted the man's offer to come in.  The place was tidy but
sparse of furniture.  The television was still playing.  A bowl of pretzels
and a beer can nestled together on the arm of an overstuffed chair that faced
the small screen that used a cracked coffin for its stand.  Seeing where
Nick's attention was focused, the man laughed.

"Yeah. that old box is always a conversation piece.  Never been used, got
dropped in shipment on its way to the funeral director.  I got a good deal on
that one."  Moving to the side of his unusual stand, he knocked his knuckles
hard against the side.  "Solid mahogany this one is."  Forcing a quick smile,
Nick flipped open his PI license.

"Mr...?"

Noting his hesitation, the caretaker finished his words.  "The name's Everly,
James Everly."

"Mr. Everly, I'm looking for a body for a loved one that may have been
mistakenly buried here over a year ago."

"Is it the body of a young woman that was buried in a Jane Doe grave?"  He
grinned wildly revealing two missing front teeth.

Stunned but curious, he was speechless for a moment.  Then finding his voice,
he again questioned the man.  "Yes it is, how did you know?"

Instead of answering him, Everly turned away then walked to the front door and
disappeared through it.  Nick rushed to pursue him, and found him several
meters away from the house and gesturing for him to follow by the time he
reached the door.  Everly took Nick on a fast paced journey of over a
kilometer as he maneuvered in between and around headstones before suddenly
stopping next to a large mound of freshly dug earth.  Then standing
precariously on the edge of the deep opening, he pivoted around to face Nick.

"Here she is!  She never had so much attention as she had in the past couple
of days, especially for a Jane Doe that was buried without a soul saying a
word.  Yep those city folks just threw her in, no consideration at all."

Carefully, Nick stepped around the large mountain of dirt and peered down into
the hollowed out grave.  "It's empty.  Where's the body?"

"Exhumed.  I did exactly what the letter said.  Official and all it was.  I
never go against the law."

"Who did this?  When did it happen?"

"Whoa, now calm down there fellow.  A nice looking young fellow came out here
with the proper police forms, all signed and authorized.  I dug her up last
night, and he took her away."

"Why?  Did he say why?"

Pulling a folded paper from is back pocket; Everly opened it and read.  "Says
here that she was needed for further testing of a crime."

Moving to the other side of the grave where Everly stood, Nick tried to view
the document from over the caretaker's shoulder.  "Can I see that?"

Handing over the dirty pages, the man almost seemed to be enjoying all the
interest.  "Sure.  I can't see why not, but I will be needing them back.
Don't know how many more will be coming by to see if I did things all proper."
With the form securely in his hand, Nick's eyes moved directly to the bottom
of the page.  The form was the proper police form for exhumation, but the
signatures were all wrong.  Why would anyone go to all this trouble for Urs's
body?  Vachon certainly had nothing to do with this.  He had left his home in
the abandoned church just after sunrise, and he had told Nick that he had
spent the entire night searching without success.  Now he would have to inform
him that Urs's body had been stolen, but worse than that were the
implications.  Someone had to know what she was, but who?  This did not make
sense.  He handed the forms back the caretaker.

"Mr. Everly is there anything you can tell me about the man that brought these
exhumation papers?"

Stuffing the papers back into his pocket, he thought as Nick patiently waited.
"All I can tell you is that this guy was no bum off the street.  Had expensive
shoes, I always look at the shoes on a man, tells a lot about him.  It always
surprises me when a man is willing to walk through the mud with shoes that
cost hundreds of dollars, without any concern.  Shows he got other things on
his mind.  And his fingernails- manicured, buffed, and polished.  Don't see
many men doing that now, do you?"

Seeing that he was not getting positive identification, Nick opened his wallet
and pulled out a business card.  "Here's my card, if you think of anything
else call me."

Excitedly, Everly pulled the card from his hand.  "I'll do that!"

Nick walked back with Everly until they were on the main driveway, from there,
he knew the way back to the car, and he started to separate from the
caretaker.  Everly walked in the direction of his house, kicking loose stones
and rocks from the road.  Then watching Nick get into his car, he called after
him.  "You can come back anytime, gets kinda lonely up here."

Twisting around in his seat, Nick turned and waved then drove off.  Everly
walked through the unlocked door and went straight to the coffin he had
fashioned into a stand for his television.  Pressing against the side, the
front opened into the room and he pulled out a picture that he held up to the
light.

"Yeah Mr. Knight, looks like you took a mighty handsome picture.  Not much
else to do way out here, but saving all my visitors pictures sure does pass
the time when it gets quiet."  Carefully closing and resetting the hidden
camera, he then opened a bottom drawer to pull out a large album.  Re-finding
his place on his comfortable chair, he opened the book to one of the last
pages.  One picture had already been placed on the newly started page, and he
firmly pressed his new collector's item next to the other picture in his book.
Holding the book at arms length in front of him, he smiled.

"Yeah, this is the perfect place for you Mr. Knight, right next to the guy you
were looking for."

                                   --------

Nick made his way up the darkened windowless stairwell of the old church using
a flashlight and his memory to guide him.  A dull glow from multiple burning
candles emanated from the opening at the top of the stairs.  Sliding the palm
of one hand along the dusty walls as he moved upwards, he was relieved when he
finally reached the top floor and passed through an arch that had once held a
door.  As he moved into the large opened space, he wondered if Vachon was
awake.  The sun had not yet set, but he had news that could not wait.  The
conditions of Vachon's living space were deplorable.  No heat coupled with the
lack of electricity made him, as a mortal, very uncomfortable.  Scanning the
candle lit room; Nick spotted the vampire sitting on the floor in the corner
of the room.  Shadows stretched long and dark as they danced behind him on the
wall as the candles flickered.  He knew that Vachon was aware of his presence.
A mortal heartbeat always would vibrate hard in the ears of the predator.
With Vachon silently staring into space and his guitar draped across his lap,
Nick moved closer to him.  With his solitude broken, Vachon solemnly stood up,
and leaned his un-played instrument against the wall.

"What brings you here so early Knight?  Have you located Urs?"

"You know there is no rule that states that vampires have to live like this,
it's very depressing."

"So you are giving up detective work and becoming a therapist or is that an
interior decorator?  No more stalling, what did you find out?"

"I did find the place where Urs was buried.  So we can rule out any
possibility of cremation."

"That's great work detective!  As soon as there is a little more cover of
darkness, we can get her out of there."

"There is a problem.  Someone found her first, and exhumed her body last
night."

"What!?  Are you telling me that her body was stolen?  But we were the only
ones looking for her.  Who would do that?"

"That is something that I would be interested in knowing too.  Could it be
anyone from the community?"

"No. There would be no reason for that, you know that.  This just happened
last night?  Why now, at the same time that we are looking for her?  Who knew?
You, your doctor friend, and me.  It has to be her!"

"Don't you think that I have already thought of that?  But she does not even
remember what we are.  What reason would there be for her to take Urs's body?
There is something that we are missing.  Someone else who would know of
vampires."

"Then who would that be?"

"I don't know.  Can't you locate her, now that she's out, through your link?"

"I've tried.  I've tried non stop for the past week, there's no response."

"No response, like she is dead?"

Angrily, Vachon hissed at him.  "No!  No response like she is asleep."

Nick persisted, "Or dead."

"It's not like that!"  Calming himself, he tried to think.  "Maybe she's too
far away.  What do they want with her?  We got to find her."

Sympathetically, Nick backed down.  If Urs was dead, then reminding Vachon of
it was of no help; it was only frustrating him.  Alive or dead, she had to be
found.  Her being out there somewhere was a danger to both mortals and
vampires alike.  This was a bad situation to be in, his instincts told him
that something was very wrong.  He turned to Vachon who had gone to the window
to check the amount of light that was still left in the sky.

"Another five minutes, and then it will be safe for you to leave.  I will do
what I can.  Meanwhile you keep trying to sense her, and talk to those in the
community who might know something about this.  Do not tell them too much.  We
do not need the enforcers in here creating more havoc and panic.  We have to
find out what is going on, and stop it in whatever way is necessary."

                                   --------

Mark stared down on the near perfect body of the beautiful young woman who he
had just had exhumed from her final resting-place.  The date marker from her
grave had read that she had been dead for over a year, yet no signs of tissue
disintegration were apparent.  The wounds that had supposedly led to her death
appeared only as slight scratch marks or blemishes.  Her body was intact after
all that time underground.  It was remarkable!

In the past several hours, he had conducted several examinations of her.  From
the series of x-rays that he had done, she appeared to have all internal
organs.  And since she had not been embalmed, he was even able to obtain blood
samples.  From all his findings, there was absolutely no reason why she should
be dead, yet she was, and all clinical evidence verified this.  There were no
vital signs that would indicate life.  There was no heartbeat, no respiration,
and no brain wave activity.  Clinically and legally, she was dead, but her
body was certainly not responding in that manner.  Why in her death would she
be going against the laws of nature?  Leaving Urs lying on the old sofa that
he had left in his locked storeroom in the event of a late work night, he
walked back into his laboratory.  The centrifuge machine with its recently
drawn blood samples from Urs had stopped, and he went to retrieve them.  As he
pulled each labeled tube from its place, he held it up and stared at its
consistency.  Every tube appeared to be normal.  Moving close to the window
for better light, he held one of the tubes into the morning sunlight.  The
tube began to fill with a fine mist of smoke and began to feel warm in his
hand.  He stared at the contents in disbelief as the small amount of liquid
began to boil, and the plug that had held the blood securely in the tube burst
allowing steam to escape through the tubes jagged opening.  The hot glass
burned the flesh on his fingers, but he refused to release it.  He could not
let it go, it fascinated him, it frightened him.  And he could not look away;
he had to know why it reacted like this.  His hand trembled from both the
excitement of witnessing this phenomenon and from the searing pain.  The only
release came when the tube exploded between his fingers and what little
remained of the miraculous fluid dropped to the floor.  In awe, he continued
his intent stare towards the floor and to the shattered shards of glass with
the flaming red fluid.  Mesmerized, he watched as the blood sample transformed
into steam and evaporated before his eyes.  The burns on his hand that he had
been too distracted to attend to, roared to life.  Again he ignored their
severity and raced back to retrieve the other two tubes.  Opening one of the
samples, he began to gather and prepare slides at his table.  With the slides
complete, he could barely breathe as he slid the first glass plate under the
microscope and began to focus.  Perspiration began to sting his eyes, and he
annoyingly swiped at its interference at this moment.  With his first glance,
he would have sworn that his heart had stopped, and he pushed himself and the
chair back and shook his head.  This was unreal, this couldn't be happening.
He wiped more sweat away from his eyes then pulled his chair back to the
microscope and peered in again.  There was no mistake; these blood cells had
the same structure as the ones that Natalie had illustrated in her notebook.
But now they were not just sketches, they were real.  What he had observed was
not a picture, but was a genuine sample.  This Jane Doe was of the same DNA
composition as the Nick in his fiancée's private book.  Tears of lost love
began to blur his vision.  The one she was trying to see on the night of her
accident with her packed bags was Nick Knight.  He was the Nick she referred
to in her notebook.  She must have been working with him.  She had seen and
had known of this abnormality, and she was working on this with him.  Pulling
away from his slides, he moved to a locked cabinet to retrieve a box of slides
marked only with a heart.  Searching through the box, he finally decided on
one and moved back to place in into the scope.  Studying the slide for a few
minutes, he sighed and rolled back on his chair so he could hang his tired
head in his hands.  Natalie too had a few of these same cells that matched
both her drawings and the Jane Doe. What sort of unnatural activity or should
he supernatural activity was going on here?  Had Natalie somehow caught
Knight's affliction?  But Knight showed none of the symptoms of light
intolerance that Natalie exhibited.  Several times, he had seen him during
sunny days.  Natalie had been without problems in the light too, but that was
before her almost fatal trip to Knight's building.  What was Knight like
before Natalie's accident?  Tomorrow, he would ask around the precinct, and
try to find more pieces to this puzzle.  If Nick Knight was also light
sensitive, then Natalie had cured him.  But cured him of what?  He held up her
slide in his throbbing hand, Whatever Natalie, his Jane Doe, and possibly Nick
Knight shared did not exist.  There was no scientific basis for any of this.
His head began to pound in the same pulsating rhythm as his burnt fingers.
What had she done on that night, and why would she take such a risk?  There
were still too many unanswered questions.  Whatever happened did not matter.
The only important thing now was finding the way to make her well again, to
give her back her life in the sun.  Since he had taken that first blood sample
from Natalie after she was attacked outside of Knight's home, her amount of
extra nucleotides had been very slowly but steadily increasing.  She was not
getting better.  The extra nucleotides in time would take over, and she did
not even feel it happening.  But now that he had this exhumed body, his
experiments should be able to proceed faster.

The painful stinging of his burnt hand returned with fiery might, and he moved
to the sink and placed his wounds under the cold running water.  Standing in
pain over the stainless steel sink, his mind wandered back to Knight and his
stomach tightened.  Natalie had cared for Knight, maybe loved him so much that
she almost died because of him.  The pain in his heart surpassed the agony of
the burns.  Maybe in time, she could love him like that.  He knew that he
would lie down his life for her.  He took in a long deep breath and slowly
exhaled.  For now, she loved him and did not even remember Knight, and he
would do everything in his power to keep it that way.  Turning off the faucet,
he located the first aid kit.  Then with the edge of a roll of gauze in his
hand, he slowly began to wrap it around his red and blistering fingers.
Exhausted he sat down and began to prepare more slides from his Jane Doe, but
he could not keep his attention focused on his task.  He could only think
about tomorrow, and what he would find out about Nick Knight.  With that
information and the Jane Doe, he would soon solve this riddle and maybe even
cure, his only love, Natalie.
 

End Part Five

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