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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lamprolign" data-source="post: 869821" data-attributes="member: 7860">017You live in a churchWhere you sleep with voodoo dollsAnd you won't give up the searchFor the ghosts in the hallsYou wear sandals in the snowAnd a smile that won't wash awayCan you look out the windowWithout your shadow getting in the way-Sarah McLachlan, Building A Mystery"You know I could get into some seriously deep <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> bringing you lab results like this," Chris said when he returned later that day.  He waved a manila folder under Gabe's nose."I don't know, and I have no opinion," Gabe mumbled as he plucked the folder from Chris's grasp."I had one hella rough time sneaking this out, old man.  You owe me.""All part of your training, grasshopper."  Gabe dumped the contents of the envelope on his kitchen counter and leafed through the sheets of paper.  He paused when he reached the report of the microscopic examination.  "Hmm....  Not human, well that tells us a lot."  Gabe continued shuffling the stack of reports.  What he really wanted was the DNA analysis.  It occurred to him that there wouldn't be one since other examination showed the evidence was not of human origin. "Not a lot to go on, is there?"  "Do you think you can talk anybody down in the molecular bio lab into sequencing this sample?""Well..." Chris began slyly, "Lindsey has been rather friendly lately, maybe I could get her to sneak it in.""You are incorrigible, man."  Gabe grinned knowingly.  Chris was an inveterate flirt with all the women on the force.  His boyish face had gotten him into, and out of, more trouble than Gabe could remember.  "When you're talking to Lindsey, just try to remember why you're there.  Now get on it, before the trail's too cold.""****The sun had just disappeared below the horizon when Gabe left his house."It's about time we went there," Mary said.  "Yeah, yeah, I know," Gabe responded."You should be a little more considerate," Mary said.  "After all, I didn't ask to get stuck in your head."Gabe felt at once aggravated and a little guilty.  He hadn't asked for the situation either, but it would do no one any good if he let himself get too irritated.  He had to admit that she had saved his ass after he'd fallen into that old cellar."Damn straight!"  Mary chimed in.  Gabe rolled his eyes and shook his head.  He really hoped the Sister could find a way to get Mary back in her own body soon.The L was still packed at this time of the evening.  Gabe was forced to stand for most of the trip.  He was fairly exhausted by the time he had walked the last leg to the Haven.  All was quiet around the former church building.  No one lingered on the steps or about the building.  It was as deserted as the first time he had come here in the small hours of the morning.  "There are normally more people hanging around this time of night," Mary said.  "I wonder if something's up."  ****Asher had indeed found out what the 'or else' was when he arrived at work that morning.  It was a dressing down that would put a marine drill sergeant to shame.  Through some miracle he'd been given a reprieve until tomorrow's addition.  This would entail an all-nighter at the office since his laptop computer was long gone."Bloody hell," Asher muttered."Excuse me?" the aging janitor asked."Nothing," Asher responded.  He hadn't noticed the old man come into the cubicle farm where his desk was nestled among many others.  He turned back to the sprawl of documents and scribbled notes that covered his desk.  On his initiative he'd put together a pretty solid background investigation of this Abrams character.  Probably better than the cops, he thought smugly.  Asher had spent many days in Abram's neighborhood, talking to the people who lived there.  He had compiled a fairly complete record of Abrams' comings and goings.  His most interesting lead had come from a phone call he received from a young woman on the janitorial staff at Miller Nursing Home.  Some research revealed that Miller was originally established in nineteen hundred and one as an asylum.  It was one of the oldest facilities in Oaklawn, maybe in the entire Chicago region.  Two days after the Abrams story broke, Asher received a phone call from a very nervous girl.  She told him that she had seen Abrams pay several visits to a patient at the home around the time that the first of Abrams' victims had disappeared.  The visits took place long after normal visiting hours had ended.  The girl became evasive when he asked her why she had not contacted the police.  He guessed that she had her reasons for wanting to remain unnoticed by the authorities. Asher had visited Miller Nursing Home to follow up on the lead.  No one else there had any recollection of Abrams' visits.  The staff there was agreeable enough, especially when he gave them some bull<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> story about highlighting their facility in an article on historical buildings.  They were a little puzzled when he asked to question the night staff.  He had simply responded, "These old places always have some ghost stories.  Readers love that stuff."It was good enough to get him the opportunity to snoop around after hours.  He interviewed all the staff over the course of a night, including a young woman on the janitorial staff.  A young woman with a very familiar voice named Jenny Matthews.  She evaded his questions and quickly slipped away.  Before he left that evening she bumped into him and pressed a folded scrap of paper into his hand. He read the message scrawled on the paper on the way home.  Can't talk here, I need this job.  I'll call you later.  A few days later Asher saw the name Jenny Matthews on the regular crime report issued by the CPD to the press.  She had been murdered in her apartment.  No details were given.Asher leaned back in his chair, stretching mightily.  It was getting close to eight o'clock.  After last night he thought he might sleep at the office even if he didn't have a story to put together before dawn.****Piotr sat near the window of a small cafe on West Chicago Avenue, across the street from the offices of the Chicago Tribune.  Come out to play, comrade.  We have much unfinished business.****"I wonder if something's up," Mary said as they approached the Haven."These are your people, kid," Gabe replied.  "I don't have a clue.""They aren't just my people," Mary's voice held an edge.  "You have a power of your own, not just the ones you've 'borrowed' from me."It did seem eerily still around the stone church building.  As Gabe approached the front doors they opened suddenly.  There stood Poe, framed by the doorway."She's been expecting you."  She turned and walked into the interior."Nice to see you too, Poe," Gabe muttered as he followed her into the church."Poe's upset," Mary said."Really?  All I noticed was her normal charming demeanor."  Poe stopped and spun to face Gabe.  "You're lucky Mary is sharing your body, pig."  "Yeah?"  "Yeah.""Gabe!  Stop baiting her!"  Gabe locked eyes with the vampire.  A heavy silence blanketed the old church's main room, the still air before a storm.  "DAS IST GANUG!" A powerful voice echoed through the high rafters.  "Kriege machen sie nicht!"  All looked toward the source of the voice.  The Sister swept into the great hall, her searing glare sweeping across Poe and Gabe.  Both shot a needle filled glance at the other before looking away."I told you to stop," Mary said."And I'll have none of it from you either, Miss Johansson."  The Sister's ire spared no one in the room.  "We have more than enough problems without childish squabbles!""I'm going to hazard a guess here, but I'll bet this has something to do with Jenny Matthews and the bear attack on the bus last night," Gabe said."No <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />, Sherlock," said Poe with a derisive snort. "Gott in Himmell!  Give me patience!  Poe...."  The Sister's voice carried an implicit warning.Gabe opened his mouth to respond to Poe's remark, and then thought better of it.  Verbal sparring was going to get him nowhere.  Poe stood facing The Sister, arms folded, her posture evidencing overwhelming irritation.  "Yes, Mister Ansgar, our problems have everything to do with last night's events," the Sister said.  "However, that was no bear.  It was a werewolf."Gabe's first thought was that the Sister's statement was impossible.  But then, he had spent the last few moments quarreling with a vampire.  The boundaries in which his reality once resided continued their inexorable erosion.  "I believe the werewolf killed Jenny Matthews.  Poe fought him on the roof of the building adjacent to the crime scene.  Apparently he was taking great interest in your work, as he was watching Jenny's apartment window when Poe confronted him."Gabe remembered the blood trail leading up the fire escape, ending on the roof.  A small chill crept down his spine as he realized he had been watched.  "And the bus attack last night?""That was no coincidence.  The creature was pursuing one of my former wards."  The Sister paused a moment before continuing.  "He escaped, but has chosen not to remain here, under our protection.""Foolish of him," Gabe said.  "There was another similar murder on the same night that Matthews was killed.""Charles Druyon," the Sister said, "was also a former resident here.  Anyone associated with the Haven is potentially in danger.""We've wasted enough time," Poe said.  "I'm going out.""Where," Mary asked."Hunting."    © 2003 Austin Hale</blockquote>

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