FicWad

In A Darkened Room
By Mishi

Chapter 10
Protector

He had tried his best to keep her talking during the car ride to the hospital. He was sure she was in shock as he carried her through the Emergency doors of St Timothy’s Metro. He had driven the extra miles to ensure it was closest to her apartment, which meant he drove like a maniac to get them there quickly.

The glass doors slid open to allow him entrance. The combination of the fluorescent lighting and the white walls were too bright for his eyes. Her body was too still in his arms, leaving him on the edge of panic. Off to his left was a small waiting area with about a dozen chairs, and about twenty feet ahead of him was the emergency desk. There were several nurses behind the desk, and others scattered throughout the emergency area.

Fighting the glare of the lights, he walked up to the front desk and blurted, “I think she’s in shock, and she may have been raped.”

“May have been? You don’t know?” Asked the male nurse with a chubby face and hair so blond it was white.

“She was naked in the alley near her apartment when I got to her.”

“I need her ID and proof of insurance.”

“They took her purse.”

“Do you know her name, address and insurance information?”

Touya told him all that he knew and he typed it in his computer as Touya rattled it off. As luck would have it, she had a file at the hospital, so they had her insurance information already on file.

“Bring her on back.” Two white doors opened as if by magic.

Touya didn’t need to be told twice, he walked thought the doors and met another nurse on the other side. She was of African-American decent, and had long, straight black hair. She was wearing green scrubs and carrying a clipboard in her hands. She led him to a section of the large room that would become a small room once a curtain was closed around it. It was one of many with a gurney in it. The nurse moved aside so he could lay Maire on it.

“I’m Wanda. Can you fill this out?” She handed the clipboard to Touya and took hold of Maire’s wrist and checked her pulse.

“Sure, I’m Touya. This is Maire.”

Next she removed a blood pressure cuff from the wall behind her and tried to get Maire to take off the coat, but Maire refused to cooperate.

Touya put down the clipboard and said, “What if I get her to just take one of her arms out?”

“That’ll work fine,” Wanda answered getting out of the way.

“Baby, I need your arm,” he spoke softly as he unbuttoned the top of the coat and eased it off her left shoulder; and then he gently pulled her arm out. She said nothing, but watched him do it.

“Thank you,” Wanda said watching him return to the foot of the gurney, so she could retake her post. “We don’t want to make this any more difficult for her than it has to be.” Now that she wasn’t caught up in her work, she noticed the rip and the wound in Touya’s side. “Oh goodness, hun, what about you?”

“Huh?” She pointed and he looked down realizing that her body was not longer blocking the view of the rip in his side. He looked her in the eyes and responded, “I was at a Halloween party. This is just makeup.”

She appeared to be star struck for a few seconds, then commented, “Oh, well it looks real. You did a great job on the make up.”

“Thanks,” he said with a smile, not bothering to look at her again.

After the blood pressure was taken, Wanda opened a cupboard above a small dresser near the bed to pull out a hospital gown and footies. She looked at Maire then and spoke as if she was speaking to a child, “Hun, do you think you can let me get that coat off of you now?” She reached out towards the silent woman before her, but Maire moved away from her hands.

“I’ll do it.” Touya said, putting the clipboard on the gurney.

Wanda dropped her hands and turned to face him, “Alright, she seems to like you better than me anyway. The doctor will be in to see you soon.”

Touya moved over to the spot the nurse had just occupied and started to unbutton the coat the rest of the way. When the coat was completely open, he helped her off the bed and slowly removed it from her other shoulder. He placed it on the bed once it was off. Then, without warning, she pressed herself against him with her arms crossed over her breasts and her face buried into his chest.

“It’s alright now, Ma-chan. I promise it’s alright.” He whispered against her hair with his hands on her shoulders. He was trying very hard to ignore that she was naked and pushing herself against him. “Now let me get the gown on you.” He gently pushed her back. Picking up the gown, he slipped her arms through the arm holes and tied the strings behind her head and back. With it finished he helped her onto the gurney, and put the footies on her feet. He then put the coat on and went back to filling out what he could of the paper work.

“Miss O’Fergus?” The doctor entered the curtain and passed Touya. He was an older gentleman, who was probably in his late sixties with white hair that was reseeding from his forehead. His face was thin, like the rest of him, but his eyes were sharp and he gave off an air of authority.

It was Touya who answered, “Yes.”

“Dr. Beck. And you are?” He held out his hand.

“Touya,” taking the hand that was offered.

“How are you related to the patient?” He started flashing a pen light into her eyes.

“I’m a friend.”

“Do you know how she got like this?”

“I found her outside her apartment building in the alley. She was naked when I found her.”

“Alright. We’ll need you to step out into the waiting room. If you have the numbers, you might want to call her family.” Wanda came in and took the clipboard from Touya.

He was shooed from the room and sent to the opposite side of the magic double doors. Once more he was powerless to help her.

***

Michael was the first to show up. Touya had called him, because the nurses were refusing him information since he wasn’t family; and there were too many people behind the desk for him to use his powers of persuasion.

“Touya?” Michael had asked, being unsure. Nurse Wanda has told him that Touya was the one in the corner chair, who was all stretched with legs crossed at the ankles out in front of him, and staring out the window.

“Oh…yeah…that’s me.” He turned to face the priest, who was still in his priest’s clothes, but had added a thick knit sweater over his black shirt; his collar was still visible for the world to see. He was surprised to see that Michael had her red hair, though his was cut close to the scalp. Michael was also the same height as he was, which made it easy, although, not comfortable to look into his green eyes-Touya hadn’t been so close to a priest since his days with Francis.

Michael held out his hand and Touya took it. He had a firm handshake; you could tell he shook hands a lot.

“How is she? They won’t tell me anything, since I’m not family,” he complained folding his arms across his chest.

“She has a concussion and she’s in shock emotionally. She’ll be fine in a few days.”

“Can she talk yet?”

“She was able to tell them what happened. It seems that I owe you a great deal for finding her.”

“I’m just glad she’s ok.” He confessed.

Michael sat down in the seat next to him. “You seem to know a lot about my cousin, but I don’t remember her saying anything about have any guy friends. How long have you two known each other?”

Touya looked at him for a moment, and answered, “About a month.”

“Touya!” Allison interrupted entering the area and rushing towards him. She was unbuttoning her white leather jacket as she walked toward him. “How is she?”

Standing up, he said, “Michael, this is Allison. Allison, this is Michael…Maire’s cousin.”

She stuck out her hand and rattled off, “Oh goodness, I’m sorry. Hello, Michael. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Now…she’s fine. She has a concussion and she’s in shock. And I think since you’re here, I’m going to take off.” He announced.

“You don’t want to see her first?” Michael asked confused.

“I actually need to get to work. I’m running late.” He answered heading towards the door.

Allison was hot on his heels and took hold of his arm, “What?” He asked.

“When do I find out what really happened?” She whispered.

“After I take care of this,” he pulled his coat open for her to see. “I’ll call you later today.”

“Do you want to take blood from me? I would consider it a payback for helping with Maire.” She was sincere when she said it.

“Don’t insult me. I didn’t save her for you.”

“I’m sure you didn’t. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to insult you. You lived up to your title tonight, White Knight.”

He didn’t comment but turned away and was out the door.

****
After returning home to bandage his new wound and a change of tops, he had a quick hunt. When finished, he still had a few hours before dawn, so he decided to take his chances and go back to the apartment where the kidnappers had taken Maire. The van was still there and he looked for anything that might be helpful inside it. He checked the glove box, looking for the registration. He looked under seats and in the back. He found nothing in the van, so he returned to the apartment. He tried the overhead light in the living room and it worked; the light bounced off the dingy yellow walls. Other than the table and three chairs there was nothing in the room, so he moved to the bedroom.

The man still lay in a heap in the corner where he had landed after Touya struck him. Touya went over and examined him. Checking the pulse in his neck, he found that the man was dead. “Shit, I killed him!” Touya put his hands over his eyes and then slid them down his face. He decided to do what he needed to do quickly and get away from the body.

He turned the bed over onto its side and took a pen and piece of paper from his coat. He then drew the circle that he saw on the floor with all the markings it contained. When he was finished, he put the bed back and tore a piece of material from the dead man’s shirt, and used it to clean his finger prints off everything he had touched.

When outside again he gave the van the same wipe down. Then working on a hunch, he checked the dumpster for Maire’s things. Sure enough, they were all there; a women’s under clothes and torn up jeans and green sweater. Her windbreaker was done for. The only things that were salvageable were her purse and white vinyl shoes. His next destination would be her place so he could clean them up and return them to her.

It took him fifteen minutes to get to her place. Once there, he had cleaned off the purse and the shoes the best he could. When he was finished, he put the purse on the nightstand and the shoes on the floor below it. Taking her tank top out of his pocket, he folded it and returned it to the bed. For a brief moment, he stopped over at the closet and flipped through the clothes. After a few minutes he was satisfied and moved back into the living room. He put her cell phone back on the charger and made sure Justin had plenty of food and water, then he left the apartment locked up for the day.

****

He had set his alarm for 4 p.m., but Allison called him at 3 p.m. He was setting up in the bed with the blanket pooling in his lap. The bandage was wrapped around his stomach, leaving his muscled upper body smooth and exposed.

“I said I would call you,” he grumbled.

“It’s not that early. I gave you plenty of time to sleep. Besides, I’m going to see Maire soon, so I needed to call you now,” she insisted.

He let his body drop back into the bed, “Fine, what do you want to know?”

“What happened last night?”

“It was just like your vision,” he stated, giving nothing away.

“Come on, Touya, I know more happened than that. How did you get torn open like that?”

“How exactly did you get my number?”

“I called in a favor with Marcus,” she didn’t sound pleased to admit it.

“You mean, you called daddy,” he teased with a devilish grin. He put his free hand behind his head and got more comfortable.

“Yes…yes, I did. Are you happy to hear me admit it?”

“Tickled pink,” he laughed.

“Ok, your turn. Spill it, Touya!”

He took a deep breath and figured he would tell her. Beside, he didn’t think she would leave him alone if he didn’t. “There was this evil blond bitch there. I don’t know what she was, but she wasn’t human; and she didn’t give off energy like a demon. She had all the demonic strength and the claws, though. That’s how she ripped me open.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” she told him.

“Me either. Anyway, there was a magic circle under the bed. It looks like a summoning spell. I went back last night and drew a picture of it, so I could find out what spell it was supposed to be. My guess is that their trying to impregnate the women with something. The demon I battled last night told me that it was his name that was written on Maire’s stomach.”

“You weren’t able to get there before they did that to her?” She asked horrified.

The regret was plain in his voice as he said, “No, I had to heal her with my blood.”

“Thank the Goddess that you got there before anything else happened. It could’ve been worse.”

“I have to find out who is doing this, not just because it’s right, but they might come after her again. She did get away and she might be able identify one of them. I don’t think that will be over looked.”

“How are you going to keep her safe during the day? You can’t be with her all the time.”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to do my best and hope it’s good enough.”

“Your best is usually pretty damn good, Touya. I think you’ll keep her safe. I’ll do my best to help. I’ll see if there is a protection spell I can do without her knowing about it. She doesn’t seem to like me doing spells for her.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” he smiled as he said it. “How is she?” He asked his face becoming serious.

“She won’t talk about what happened. She told the police the story you made up. But I can’t get her to talk about what really happened. She won’t cry either. She stares into the curtain like she’s thinking about it all, but she will not cry or talk. I don’t know what to do for her. Her psychiatrist has come to see her, and says she’s no longer in shock. Michael said she was like this for a long time after her father raped her-like she just shut off all emotion. He said she was like that for years.”

“I don’t know what to say. I wish I could fix what they broke. I’ll kill that blond bitch if I get the chance. But I don’t know what to do for her now. When will she be home?”

“Sometime tonight.”

“Shit! When?” He threw off the blanket and hopped out of the bed; naked as the day he was born.

“The doctor has been coming in about 8 p.m., so probably sometime after that.”

“I gotta go!” He started to hang up the phone but heard her screaming. Returning the phone to his ear, “What?”

“You have seriously got to learn some phone skills! You need to say goodbye before you hang up on someone, and then you wait for them to say goodbye back. It is the polite way to talk on a phone, got it?”

“Ok…goodbye,” he said impatiently.

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

He hung up and made a mad dash for clothing.

****


The farm house was a massive yellow, Victorian style house with white trim and a gray roof. On the outside all seemed normal; there were dual porch swings and rocking chairs on the porch that wrapped around the sides of the house, as well as crossed the front. But on the inside, the house looked like something out of a horror movie. Furniture was scarce, with people sitting on the floor. Mystical symbols were spray painted on white walls with the windows covered with thick black cloth. The downstairs consisted of a living room, dinning room, kitchen, two bedrooms, one bath, and a laundry/utility room. Below the main floor was a full basement with two large rooms that was accessible from the outside. The upper floor contained one bath and six small bedrooms, each of which was home to its own temptation.

Only the attic was set apart from the rest of the house. At one end stood an alter with a magic circle on the floor in front of it. On the opposite end of the large open space was a circle of expensive arm chairs. In those chairs sat several men and women dressed in various colored hooded robes. The hoods were over there heads to cover their faces. In the middle of the circle stood the blond female, who Touya had battled the night before. Her neck still bore the red line from where he had sliced into her flesh with his short sword.

“…But the blade was silver,” the blond struggled to make the man in the purple robe understand.

He sat with his legs crossed, the charcoal slacks and Patton leather shoes sticking out the bottom of the robe. His fingernails were manicured and shinny and his hands were hanging off the ends of the chair’s armrests. “Vampire or human…silver or steal…you are superior! These things do not matter. Are you telling us our plan has failed before it had begun?”

She looked around her then back at him, “Never. We will continue as planned. But with this body comes specific complications. I may be able to walk in the sunlight and use my powers, but I am vulnerable to attack. This silver wound will take time to heal. The vampire could have damaged this body beyond repair. I did what I did to ensure the plan was not lost.”

A woman in a blue robe and jeweled fingers spoke out against her, “Ah, but now he knows you exist, and you lost the host. Then there is the matter of the dead body we must decide to either dispose of, or leave for the police to find. How is any of this best for the plan?”

“Lady Valda, I know the situation looks unfavorable from your perspective, but one vampire and a human girl are nothing compared to the power we have gained. I will gather a few of my brethren and we will hunt them down. The vampire will be destroyed and the girl will be brought to a new site for the ritual. The wonderful thing about demons is that we can always be summoned again.”

“Uelin, do not forget the most wonderful thing about your new body…it can be destroyed. Do not fail the Master. Remember his coming is the only reason you are here,” the man in the purple robe warned.

“Of course, Lord Baal,” Uelin responded politely and turned to leave.

***

Touya sat in his usual perch, watching her apartment as the anticipation of Maire’s homecoming became more intense with each passing moment. It was already 9 p.m. and he was growing tired of waiting. Picking up his new iPhone from the spot on the floor where he had laid it earlier, he decided to called Bethany and get some work done.

“Hello?” Bethany asked in a curious tone.

“It’s Touya. I need you to do something for me.”

“I don’t know this number, where are you callin’ from?”

“I bought an iPhone.”

“Boss, you gotta phone? ‘Bout time you updated,” she laughed.

“Yeah, razz me about it later. I need you to contact someone for me. He goes by the name Jagger. I want him to get me info about a building on Seemore. It’s number 109. He should be able to tell me who owns it. The utilities were on, so have him get that info for me too.”

“Ok, Jagger. Just tell me how to reach him and I’ll get right on it. I’m assuming this is a vampire, I’ll be talking too?”

“Yes, tell him you belong to me, and give him whatever price he wants.”

Suddenly the door to her apartment opened and the living room light came. He stood and saw her standing next to the couch looking out the window. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and Mother Teresa tee shirt that was gray and white. Behind her was Michael in jeans and a blue sweat shirt, and Allison in a red sweater and tan muslin skirt. Touya quickly rattled off the phone number that Bethany needed to complete her mission and ended the call. He was too mesmerized by her appearance to put on the headphones. He simply stood there watching her.

***

“Maire?” Michael came up to stand next her and looked out the window, “Is something wrong?”

She shook her head and turned to face him, “No, I was just thinking it’s good to be home.” Then she looked to Allison, who gave her a look that confirmed she understood what Maire had been doing.

Allison took her sweater off and tossed it over the back of the couch. It left her in her tan muslin peasant top, which matched muslin skirt. “I’m sure everything will go back to the way it was before the attack,” she said with a smile.

“I hope so,” she said going past Michael and into the bedroom.

In the building across the alley Touya rushed into the next room to get a better view of her bedroom.

Maire stood looking at the new clothes on the bed. There was a pair of jeans, an Eeyore tee shirt, and a new pink windbreaker. There was a note on the windbreaker, which was a folded piece of paper with her name on the front of it. She picked it up and read it.

Maire,
I tried for hours to find a burgundy windbreaker to replace the one you lost, but I just couldn’t seem to find one. The color is impossible! The closest I have come is this pink one, so I got it for you. I hope it will be enough to replace the one you lost.
Your favorite stalker,
Touya

“Where did all this come from?” Michael asked.

Not thinking, Maire answered truthfully, “Touya bought it for me.”

“How exactly did he get in here? Maire, how close are the two of you, and should I know something more about him?”

“Now, Michael, don’t jump to conclusions,” Allison laughed and placed a hand on his arm. “I let him in. Maire gave me a spare key for emergencies and I gave it to him so he could do this earlier today.” She moved between him and Maire and tossed her arms up, “Surprise!”

“Well, that explains why I haven’t needed to feed and water the cat.” Michael said rubbing his chin. “I thought I had the only spare key.”

“No, I had another one made. I know you are always so busy.” She confessed, following Allison’s lead.

“I’m glad to see that you finally have made some good friend, Maire. You have Allison, who has been with you at the hospital, and your guy friend, Touya, who saved you and got you these clothes...it’s just wonderful.” He smiled and reached out to pat her on the shoulder.

In return she offered him a weak smile, and doing her best to not cringe from the touch, focused on the clothing. “He actually got the sizes right,” she mused checking all the tags. “He didn’t buy off brands either.”

“It looks like our boy is a serious shopper,” Allison laughed from over Maire’s shoulder.

“Does that really say seventy dollars?” She gasped holding up the jeans.

“Yep,” Allison confirmed.

“Good Jesus…for a pair of jeans?” Michael chimed in.

“You probably don’t want to know what he pays for his own clothes,” Allison suggested picking up the Eeyore shirt. It was pink with Eeyore dressed up as a dragon for Halloween. “That is so cute!” She said holding it out for everyone to see.

“Well, ladies, I’ll leave you to put these things away. I need to get up early tomorrow, so I think I should go. I’ll call you tomorrow, Maire. Night Allison,” He said on his way out of the bedroom.

“Good night, Michael!” They called after him in unison, both waiting for the sound of the closing door.

“I can’t believe he replaced it all…and he found my purse and shoes!” She appeared happy for the moment.

“Someone is investing some serious effort in you,” Allison teased. “I think someone has a crush.”

“You know what I think?” She looked at Allison, who looked back with curious eyes. “I think I just met the last good guy on the planet. That’s what I think.”

“And I think he’s not the only one with a crush,” Allison laughed.

“Oh, stop!” She said bending down to crawl under the bed for a craft box that held a pair of scissors. Pulling the scissors from the box, she began to cut the tags from the items on the bed. “He just impresses me. Not everything has to do with all that fairytale and happy endings stuff.”

“Oh, that’s from the girl who’s a slave to Disney. Yeah, sure, I’ve heard it all now.”

She hung the windbreaker in the closet and tossed the jeans and tee shirt into the hamper, and teased, “I’m not the one casting love spells to find a boyfriend, now am I?”

“Maire Shannon, that was cold!” The witch in question exclaimed with wide eyes and mouth open wider.

Maire had her hands on her hips when she said, “You started it chickie.”

“I hope we’re making him twitch.”

“Hmm, you like getting on his nerves don’t you?” Maire asked cocking her head to the side and crossing her arm.

“I do, and I don’t know why.” Allison confessed with a cocky grin.

“Sounds like I’m not the one who has the crush.”

“Oh, don’t even go there! No way!”

She smiled an evil grin and wandered into the living room. Allison fallowed; taking up a place at her side when she decided to sit on the couch. The smile was gone and her mood was suddenly serious. “You promised you would tell me what Touya told you when I got home. I want to know everything that happened the night he saved me.”

“He said there was a woman who wasn’t human, but didn’t give of energy like a demon. She shredded his side with her claws because he misjudged her. He…hold on, my phone is vibrating.” She pulled the phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. “I don’t recognize the number, but something tells me to pick it up, so give me a sec.”

“Hel…”

“What the hell are you telling her this shit for? Do you want her to be scared out of her mind?” His voice was angry and loud. He was frantically pacing back and forth in the building next door.

“Touya?” She asked knotting her brows and looking at Maire.

“Yes, yes, I got an iPhone. I want you to stop telling her this shit, now!”

“He doesn’t want me to tell anything. He’s actually yelling at me over it,” she explained to her friend, who was dying to find out what was going on.

“Let me talk to him,” Maire whispered reaching for the phone, which Allison gladly handed her. “Touya, don’t be angry with her; I insisted that she tell me, she didn’t offer.”

He froze in place at the sound of her voice. What was he supposed to say to her? This hadn’t been part of the plan when he called Allison. He stared out the window and into her living room.

“I wanted to ask you, but you never came to see me,” she admitted standing and walking over to the window. “Touya, please say something to me.”

He watched her get closer to her window as he backed farther into the darkness of the room. His heart was about to jump out of his chest.

“Thank you for saving me. And thank you for the clothes, their great. Thank you for taking care of Justin.” She put her hand on the glass of the window and whispered, “And thank you for going back for my things. You didn’t have to do that. It was just as dangerous as rescuing me. What if they had come back?”

He swallowed hard and in a low voice said, “You’re welcome.”

“Touya, come over here and talk to me,” she pleaded.

“No, it’s safer for you if I keep my distance. You don’t want to get messed up in this life of mine, Maire. It’s dark and full of evil. You’re too pure for it.” He shook his head.

“I’m not pure. You’ve read my journals, haven’t you?”

“Sorry, but yes.”

“Then you know I’m not pure and you know why.”

“What he did to you didn’t take way your purity, Ma-chan.”

“No, it was how I reacted to what he did that took it way. I didn’t write that in the journals you read. You don’t know what I did to dirty myself. Come to me and I’ll tell you everything, I swear.”

“Please don’t, because you don’t know how bad I want to know you. You don’t have any idea how bad I want to live in your world with you. I can’t, baby, it’s not possible.” He walked to the chair and sat down, one leg bent and the other out in front of him. “I wish that Allison hadn’t told you all the vampire crap she told you. You shouldn’t know any of this. You don’t know what they would do to you, if they knew I let you live with our secret.”

“She’s given me an idea. I know that you will be punished for me knowing. If you are going to break the rules, do something to really break them.”

“What do you want me to do? Are you telling me to get in deeper trouble than I already have us in?”

“No, but if what you are doing is a crime, then do something to make it worth doing. You are breaking the rules by letting me know you…let me really know you.”

“Maire, I’m going to hang up. I should have hung up when you took the phone. I was weak and let that weakness get the better of me. But I’m not going to let this go on. I’ll continue to watch you and protect you, but we can’t be closer than this. It’s impossible. I’m sorry.”

“Touya…,” She was talking to silence. She leaned her head against the glass and shut the phone.

Allison came up behind her and placed her hand on the middle of her back; making tiny circles with it. “He’ll give in one day. If he didn’t want to be involved with you, he wouldn’t keep hanging around. He sure wouldn’t be yelling about me scaring you.”

“He thinks I’m pure. He doesn’t know how far from the truth that is.” She turned to face Allison.

“To someone in his world you are, hunny. He hunts criminals and scumbags. Andrew and Lydia are just a peach! He has a lot of evil around him. It’s no wonder he doesn’t know what to do with you.” Allison explained, leading her back to the couch.

“Iris told me to let him understand by example. Well, I intend to show him just how impure I really am.”