Part Seven

Here he was backstage with this great speech planned.  Then why was he
sweating more than when he was in the direct line of fire at the last
shoot-out.  At least he knew how to handle things when he was being fired
at. This was more stressful.  Jenny was out there counting on him.  How did
he get himself into this?  One moment he has her class down at the precinct
on a field trip, and the next thing he knows he's agreeing to an anti-drug
lecture for the whole school.

He pulled back the curtains with a clammy hand.  It looked like this was a
sell out crowd.  The entire auditorium was full.  Myra and Jenny were in the
first row.  Thank G-d Sarrison was no longer a threat.  It will be great to
get back to a normal life.  He tried to relax by taking in a couple of deep
breaths.  'Yep. nothing to stop me now.' He reached down and turned the
power off to his phone.  He did not want anything to disturb his trend of
thought.

* * * Sarrison's office and Flashback * * *

Sarrison's office was filled with police officers and the forensic team.
They were carefully bagging potential evidence for use in a trial.  Nicholas
was relieved, but he still wanted an answer to his question of why anyone
would kill innocent children.  A Dentist, someone any parent without
reservation would send their child into alone.  A child killer, and the last
one any one would suspect.  His thoughts returned to Daniel.  I guess Daniel
would actually be the last one anyone would expect.  Nicholas sat down in
front of Sarrison's computer, and watched the screen saver burst into
streaming lights of color.  'I do not know why this man murdered so many
innocent children, but I do remember why you did Daniel.' He could remember
his conversation with Janette as if it happened yesterday.  He stared at the
computer's screen

"Janette, go and get LaCroix!  His sense of Daniel will be stronger than
ours. Tell LaCroix what has happened, and that Daniel will most likely be
irrational."

Janette watched as Nicholas ran to the edge of the balcony, and closed his
eyes to concentrate on Daniel.  He was trying to pick up the young vampire's
vibrations, but because of Daniel's state of mind he would be difficult to
track.  She followed Nicholas outside, and stood next to him.  She placed
her hand over his on the balcony's ledge.

"Nichola, you will not be able to find him through our connection.  We do
not know enough to interpret all the irrational vibrations that are flowing
from Daniel."

Nicholas instantly turned towards Janette.  His voice sounded irritated.

"Then have LaCroix take care of this!  He is more than powerful enough to
find Daniel."

Janette looked up into Nicholas's anxious eyes.

"You really do not know, do you?  LaCroix left last night.  He said he was
tired of your complaints and of the noise of the sirens.  He left for
America, he can not help us."

Nicholas looked resigned as he shook his head.  LaCroix had deserted all of
them.  With great effort he gathered his strength, and tried to hold on to
some control of the situation.

"Then the two of us must find him.  It is up to us now.  We will split up.
If we each cover half the city, there's a small chance that we may locate
him. In four hours we will meet back here.  Are you ready?"

Tears began to cloud her eyes, and he moved close to hold her. She clasped
her arms around him as they both pulled strength from each other. After a
moment, she pulled back and forced a smile.

"Let's go Nichola.  We need to save Daniel, and the night will not last
forever."

Nicholas was the first to arrive back at their mansion to find that it had
been the target of a missile, and was rapidly becoming consumed by fire.
Finally, he could feel Daniel's vibrations.  They were coming from inside
the house.  There was something else too.  Crying.  He could hear the cries
of other children.  They were also in the burning house.

There was little time.  He scanned the skies for Janette, but could not even
feel her nearby.  As much as he feared the flames, he knew that he had to go
after Daniel and the trapped children.  Most of the house was in ruins.
Flaming pieces of plastered ceiling rained down on him as he ran through the
burning remains trying to home in on Daniel and their connection.

The huge house was barely recognizable, and the smoke stung at his eyes.
The cries of the children were becoming louder.  They were in the parlor.
He could feel Daniel, but could not see him.  The feeling was coming from
behind the closed door ahead, but there was too much debris that blocked the
way to saving them.  He began to throw burning beams of wood and large
chunks of plaster to the side.  The flames were near his back, and terror
seized him. Finally, an opening large enough for him to enter appeared
before him.

He was covered in bloodsweat, and his clothes were torn when Daniel's fanged
smile flashed at him through the smoke.  Four terrified boys and girls were
tied to their chairs that Daniel had arranged to form a circle.  The heavy
curtains that covered the windows were entirely on fire from the floor to
the ceiling.  All the furniture was on fire, and flames shot up through the
wooden floor.  It would not be long until the floor gave way, and they would
all be destroyed.

Daniel danced around the tied children while singing a nursery rhyme.
Nicholas screamed out,

"DANIEL!  WE HAVE TO GET OUT!"

Daniel stopped and looked confused at Nicholas, and then resumed to dance
and laugh.

"We can't die Nicky.  Don't you remember?  We will live forever.  Come, we
are having a party.  See, we are playing musical chairs.  I knew you'd
come."

Nicholas ran to the children, and began to frantically tear the ropes from
them.  Their cries were overwhelming him, making it even harder to work
fast. As each child became untied, he pulled them towards him.

"Daniel, Please!  We must run NOW!"

The children clung to Nicholas, and he shielded them from the heat with his
cloak.  Daniel backed towards the wall as Nicholas tried to reach for him.
The children had to be taken to safety.  They were coughing and gasping for
breath.  Daniel did not need to breath yet, and he could last a little
longer as long as he didn't catch fire.  He would have to come back for him.

Nicholas pushed the tearful children through the opening one at a time.  He
was struggling to not lose track of any of them as the floor gave way before
them.  He grabbed for one girl just as she nearly missed falling into the
smoldering hole.  Then he felt her.  Janette was near!  He yelled out to
her,

"JANETTE!  JANETTE!  DANIEL IS HERE!"

Immediately he saw Janette before him.  Her clothes were torn and dirty.
Her hair was wet and wind blown.

"I know!  I felt him!"

"Janette, go and get him, he will not come with me.  You must go quickly.
HURRY!"

Janette disappeared through the smoky opening.  Nicholas pulled the children
tightly towards him, and covered them again with his cloak.  The room was
impassable by foot.  He lifted himself with the sobbing children into the
air, and out to where a wall once stood.  Two of the squirming children fell
from his grasp just as they were landing in the landscaped yard.  They had
landed far from the heat, but he could still hear the crackling of the fire.
  The children seemed rattled, but they had survived.  Nicholas reached out
and found each child's heartbeat and locked on.  Their cries slowed as he
spoke commandingly to them.

"You are fine.  You were caught in the missile fire.  You will go home now
and sleep."

Each child stopped crying, and dried their tears.  They stood up and began
to walk off the property towards the heart of the city.  They looked dazed,
but they would not remember their horror filled night with Daniel.

Nicholas watched as the young ones calmly walked away, until he was startled
by a loud blast that made his heart sink.  He turned towards the house and
screamed.

"JANETTE!  DANIEL!"

Janette flew out of the house with Daniel in her arms, and fell down
exhausted in front of Nicholas.  Nicholas knelt down to hold Janette as she
cried.  Daniel was laughing as if this were a game they were playing, but
suddenly stopped and jumped up.  He tore back towards the collapsing house.
He was screaming,

"I FORGOT IT!  I NEED IT!"

"DANIEL!  NO!"

Daniel disappeared into the house as it totally collapsed onto him with one
final explosion.  Nicholas held Janette back as she struggled to get up, and
go to Daniel.  Nicholas closed his eyes as the bloodsweat ran into them.  He
pulled Janette's face into his chest as her heart wrenching screams filled
the smoke filled air.

"Daniel!  Daniel!  NO PLEASE!  NICHOLA, NO!"

She tried to turn and look at the devastation, but he held her head tightly
to his chest so she would not see.  He stared into the raging flames, and
the light of the fire glowed on his face.  He watched until the flames had
consumed the house, and burned out.

"It's too late, Janette.  There's nothing we can do."

Janette pulled away from Nicholas, and stood up.  Nicholas also stood up,
and put his arm around her shoulders as they stood mesmerized by the
devastation. By this time, she had stopped crying.  The blood tears had left
streaks on her soot covered face.  They both looked at the house.  They
would need to find shelter soon.  It was almost dawn.  Janette hardly
breathed, and stared at where the house once stood.

"I can not feel Daniel anymore, Nichola."

He did not look at her, but pulled her close.

"Neither can I."

She began to walk towards the ruins, and Nicholas reached to stop her, but
she pulled away.

"I have to know why.  I have to know why he went back."

Nicholas tried to stop her, but she pushed on until they reached the area
where he had been rescued from earlier.  Janette reached down and picked up
Daniel's cap and jacket.  Underneath the jacket was the fire engine toy that
they had given to Daniel before he became one of them.  Janette started to
cry again as she picked up the toy truck.  She held it up to Nicholas, and
then hugged it against herself.

"This is why he ran back.  He came back for our present."

"Was there anything else Detective?"

Nicholas looked up from the computer, and stared into the eyes of a young
man wearing one of the white uniform jackets of the forensic team.  Glancing
back at the screen, he saw the same colors of the fire that Daniel had
perished in, streaking across the monitor.  He needed to erase the sadness
of Daniel's memory, and pressed the first key his hand touched.  The colors
disappeared, and were replaced with a list of employee's files.  This must
have been what Sarrison was working on before he injected himself.  Nicholas
sat up, and moved closer to the monitor.  This didn't make sense.  Why would
Sarrison be working on employee files, and then suddenly decide to take his
own life?

The impatient young man spoke up again.

"If that will be all Detective, the team would like to leave."

Nicholas looked up again very distracted.

"Yes, that's all.  Thank you.  I'm going to stay a while longer.  I'll make
sure everything is secure before I leave."

The young man nodded, and turned to leave.  All the others had already come
and gone, and he was the last to gather his equipment and head for the
doors. Schanke had been right.  This office was spectacular.  It reminded
him too much of the mansion his vampire family had inhabited while with
Daniel in London.  With the departure of all the police and medical
personnel, quiet had returned to Sarrison's office, and Nicholas turned his
attentions back to the information that the monitor now displayed.

The last thing that Sarrison was doing, was examining a file on an employee.
He read the name out loud.  "Keith Michael Mason."  He touched a few more of
the keys to read on further.

"Birthdate 05/19/70.  Single.  Parents deceased.  One sibling.  A sister.
Sharon Ann Mason."

Nicholas scrolled down to find the long list of educational degrees.  His
only employer had been Dr. Sarrison.  Keith Mason had been his sister's
guardian ever since an accident that killed their parents.  Sharon Mason was
listed as Keith Mason's dependent.  Nicholas continued down the same path
that Sarrison had been only hours before.  Then he suddenly lifted his hands
from the keyboard, and read intently every word.  There was a long list of
paid medical receipts for a private hospital.  The list contained all the
dates that Sharon Mason had gone in and out of a very exclusive mental
health hospital. Sarrison had given his new employee a generous advance so
that his sister would receive the best mental help money could buy.  The
hospital that she was received at was the most renowned institution in the
Country, and it was not a covered expense by the national health insurance.
The list showed that Mason was far from finished paying back Dr. Sarrison
the enormous debt he owed.

Nicholas began to type faster on the keyboard, and closely watched the
screen as it revealed more information.  Dr. Sarrison seemed to be
meticulous about recording every detail on his employee's lives.  He looked
at the dates. Almost one year ago Mason's sister had been savagely raped.
It looked as if she had been drugged, and was left for dead.  She had spent
almost a month in the hospital recovering.  The next dates showed that there
were six stays in a mental hospital for depression and attempted suicide
over the following eight months.  Then Nicholas noticed one final recording
about three months ago from an emergency room at a hospital in Quebec.
After that entry. he could not find anything more about Sharon Mason.

Nicholas sat back on Sarrison's leather chair, and stared at the computer.
Again he wondered why this would be the last act of a suicidal man. deciding
to find out more about Sharon Ann's rape.  He located the icon to become
connected to the Internet.  He needed to log on to the precinct's computer
files.  He typed in his personal security code for official police
information, and waited as he was granted access.  Typing in Sharon's name,
he again waited for the report to come through.

Immediately, the screen became alive with pages of words.  The first entry
was one about the rape trial.  He scanned the information presented for
anything that would stand out.  In the middle of the court transcript he
found the words he was looking for.  He couldn't believe it.  Sharon Mason
had been given the drug commonly referred to GHB in her drink of soda by a
friend of an acquaintance.  She had been so heavily drugged that she could
not positively identify her attacker, and he was found not guilty.

Nicholas decided to run a name trace on Sharon Mason.  He typed a few
commands into the computer, and soon had access to her life records.  Sharon
was only twelve years old when her parents died, and her older brother
became her guardian.  Nicholas pushed forward through all her academic
records until he reached the date of the last entry for her that he had seen
on Sarrison's files.  The same date over three months ago.  Sharon Mason had
been admitted to the emergency room, and had died of an apparent drug
overdose.  A suicide. She was only fourteen years old.

Nicholas went back to the original screens that Sarrison had been viewing,
and looked back over all the hospitalization dates at the mental
institution. There was something familiar, but he just could not put his
finger on it. Nicholas sat back on the chair again, and rested his arms on
the chair's arms. The Quebec reports that Schanke had handed to him at the
precinct, were still in his jacket pocket.  He pulled them out, and started
to read them over. Each murder was listed, and each matched the descriptions
of the murders that had taken place near them.  He rubbed at his eyes then
looked back at Sarrison's screen.  He glanced around the grand room while
trying to put all the information together.  There were so many wonderful
antiques, and beautiful works of art to admire.  He forced himself to look
back to Sarrison's desk.  His gaze fell on the calendar, and then everything
made sense.  Rushing back to the papers on the Quebec crimes, he compared
those dates with the dates that Sarrison had listed for Sharon's dates of
hospitalization.

The first three Quebec rapes were on the same dates as Sharon's first three
dates of admission into the institution.  He quickly tried to recall the
dates of the last two murders and rapes in Toronto.  They were a perfect
match to two more of Sharon's hospitalization admittance's.  There had only
been one date that a rape or murder had not taken place on.  That date was
today.  All this time they had thought it was Sarrison, and it was Mason.
He was killing in retribution for his sister's suffering.  Sarrison must
have made the connection, and confronted Mason.

Nicholas abruptly stood up.

"Jenny!"

Today was the day Mason needed to complete his killing spree.  Mason was out
there, and he was after Jenny.  Jenny was in danger, he had to get a hold of
Schanke.  Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed in Schanke's number.  There
was only a message stating that the person he was trying to call was
unavailable or had traveled outside the covered area.  He hung up his phone,
and called Captain Cohen.

* * * * * * * *

Mason stood at the back of the auditorium and watched as all the people
found their friends and seats.  The thought that all those that saw him in
Gilson's uniform were most likely feeling more secure, was entertaining to
him.  He was pleased at everything he already accomplished so far tonight.
Everything was running very smoothly.  Jenny and her Mother were very
obliging and grateful for the police escort to the school.  They had had an
illuminating conversation on the way over about the topic of tonight's
lecture.  A smile crossed his face as he considered the irony of his
victim's father delivering an anti-drug lecture.  He would had never dreamed
of a more fitting tribute to avenge his sister's death.  He began to feel
the excitement of the anticipation to finally be able to compensate for
Sharon's death.  He knew that she would be satisfied after tonight, and that
both of them could finally rest.  After Jenny's death everyone would know
how worthless the justice system was.  He would be as free to walk away from
the anguish he caused as was the man that destroyed Sharon's life.

He looked at Jenny who was happily talking to her mother.  Sharon used to be
like that before she was ravaged for a moment of fun by another.  The rape
had changed her into an old woman before his eyes.  Each day she became more
and more despondent as he watched her slow decline.  She had pulled away
from all her friends, even from him.  Long before Sharon had killed herself,
he had felt alone.  The rape had left Sharon lost in her own private pain
filled world, and as hard as he tried he could not reach her.  The day she
died he became aware of how empty his life was.  All of his family was dead,
he was the only one left.  The only thing that allowed him to survive was
the revelation that he would fill the void of her loss with the guarantee
that he would make it up to her.  He had promised her when their parents had
died that he would always take care of her, and tonight he would be
fulfilling that promise to her.  This would be the crowning touch, soon he
would reach his destination.

Mason calmly walked down the center aisle, and cheerfully approached Jenny
and her Mother.

"Jenny, your father said that he would like to see you for a moment before
the speech.  He told me to accompany you."

Myra smiled at Jenny as she turned to her, and squeezed her hand.

"Go ahead.  He probably needs a little extra encouragement.  Give him a big
hug for me."

Jenny was glad to see that her Mother was comfortable with her going off,
and going somewhere without panicking.  She sprang up from her seat, and
blew her Mother a kiss as she followed Mason towards the back of the
auditorium.  Holding her hand securely, he guided her towards the auditorium
doors.

Jenny looked up at the officer who was almost dragging her by her arm
towards the main doors.

"I don't understand why we are going outside.  I thought my Dad was
backstage."

They passed a few kids and parents who were coming to hear her father, and
be a part of the school's activities for the night.  She tried to hurry her
pace, so it wouldn't look like she had just been busted for drugs, and was
being hauled off to prison. That wouldn't be the best image to give everyone
who was coming to her father's anti-drug lecture.  Still she was having a
hard time trying to keep up.  The officer was a lot taller than her, and was
moving so fast that her smaller legs were having a hard time keeping up.
She was starting to feel nervous.  Something was not right.  She stopped and
tried to pull her arm away as they went further from the building.  Mason
pulled her harder when he felt her stop.

"Lets go!"

Jenny turned to run as Mason pulled her close and then pulled out the same
cloth he had used on Sarrison and held it hard against her mouth and nose.
They were far enough away from the last stragglers of late comers so as not
to attract attention.  Jenny fell limp as he held her against his side, and
continued to walk into the darkness.

Finding an isolated area in a clump of trees, he began to remove her
clothes.  After half undressing her, he noticed that she was stirring
slightly.  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small glass bottle of a
clear liquid.  Then reaching back into his pocket again, he emerged with a
sterilely wrapped syringe.  After removing the paper from the syringe, he
plunged the needle into the rubber opening of the bottle's turned up edge.
He pulled back on the syringe until it was full, and could not pull back any
further.

"Okay Jenny.  I need you to wake up a little more so you will know what is
happening to you.  I want you to know how Sharon felt."

Holding the syringe up to the small amount of light that was filtering
through the tree's leaves, he smiled at the glimmering liquid.

"And when we're done, then you'll just have to go to sleep for a very long
time."

Mason poked at Jenny to wake her, and was becoming impatient.

"Wake up already!  You have to be awake!"

He again picked up the full syringe to recheck its contents.  The darkness
was so dense that he was having trouble seeing the level of the liquid.
Holding it up higher, he thought he saw some flecks of gold through the
bushes.  Then something rustled, and he turned back to Jenny. She still was
not moving, and he was not about to wait much longer.  A low growl startled
him, and he looked up trying to find the direction it came from.

"There must be a dog nearby."

Damn, he didn't need any dog giving his location away.  No more waiting,
this was it.  Even if she did not wake, it really would not matter that
much.  At least everyone else would know that she had been raped.  Their
pain would have to be enough.  He began to pull away some more of her
remaining clothes, than shuttered as he again heard the growling become
deeper and longer. Cautiously looking up, he saw two glowing eyes directly
ahead of him.  He reached into his pocket again, and grabbed at the syringe
as the beast pounced on him.  There was not even time to utter a scream as
he flew backwards onto the ground.  The needle was completely submerged into
his arm.  He lay motionless as the moon overhead glowed brightly on his
expression frozen in horror.
 

End Part Seven
 

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