Kara walked down the street, the cold wind once more blowing in her face. She was too focussed to even take the time to stop the gust with a psychic barrier. She might not have the contacts that Vasha had, but she knew people who knew people.
She went up to an old dilapidated house in what police called a "bad neighbourhood." She knocked on the door and then shoved her hands back into the pockets of her hoodie. She could hear music playing inside the house, so there were definitely people home. She knocked again after a moment.
Soon, someone opened the door. In front of her was a muscular and tall man from the same generation as she. He had the chiselled features of an Adonis from the modern age, the alabaster skin of an aged-as-wine vampire, and the look of a pissed-off bulldog aimed straight at Kara.
Of course it had to be him.
"What are you doing here?" he questioned, crossing his arms.
"Nice to see you again too, Damien," Kara replied with a smile. "I'm here to see Raymond."
"Yeah, I'll bet. Nobody wants you here, so why don't you just—"
"Kara?" a soft voice called from further into the house.
Kara smiled. "Hi Raymond."
Raymond came over and glanced back and forth between Kara and Damien, unsure of what to do. He was like an antithesis to Damien. He was short but wiry, wore glasses, and had bags under his eyes. He had the same white skin as Damien, but on Raymond it felt more like aged vinegar than wine.
"Ignore him," Kara said, pulling Raymond between her and Damien. Damien refused to leave though, even after her display. "Did you get my text? Did you find out anything?"
Raymond nodded. "No specifics, but I did hear a rumour going around about a lot of psychics being detectives. It's easy to catch people when you can read their minds. Makes them look like better detectives because they can close more cases." Raymond chuckled.
"And what about…" Kara glared at Damien, hesitant to say Olivia's name in front of him.
"Olivia?" Raymond finished.
Kara let out a sigh at Raymond's gaffe. The look on Damien's face changed from anger to concern in an instant.
"What's wrong? Is Olivia in trouble?"
Kara pursed her lips and grabbed Raymond's arm. She took him outside, over the threshold of the house, and put up a barrier. Damien tried to follow, but was stopped in his tracks.
"You still have a car?" she asked.
"Yeah," Raymond replied.
Kara walked to the side of the house, pulling Raymond along. Raymond entered one of the vehicles in the driveway, and she entered the passenger seat.
"Where do you want to go?"
"Away."
Raymond nodded, turned on the car, and drove it away from the house. He drove to a nearby park which was nearly empty save a few couples walking hand in hand and an old man feeding birds that had yet to migrate.
"So, what happened to Olivia?"
"I wasn't able to find that out, but I did find out that police picked up a vampire and are holding whoever it is in the precinct you mentioned. It wasn't on any official channels though, so it could be a rumour."
"No, that's Olivia for sure. The timing is too close to be a coincidence." Now that Kara had confirmation Olivia was being held in the police station, she just needed to wait for Vasha to pull through. She let out a sigh. At least she knew where Olivia was now. All that was left was to get her out of there.
Kara felt a sharp pain begin at the back of her head and creep to the sides. She thought it might have been the pressure and stress, but she knew it was something else. Her teeth ached and she felt tired. She held her head and began taking deep breaths.
"You haven't fed in a long time, have you?" Kara shook her head. "You need something." Raymond reached into his pocket and pulled out a twist-off vial carrying a red liquid. "Here, take mine. It's from a blood bank one of the guys raided."
Kara looked at the vial with longing. The blood called to her as her brain pulsated and pounded. It would be so easy to take Raymond's offer and ease the pain, but she refused. That was a road she didn't want to go down again.
"Still feeding on the recently deceased?"
Kara nodded, trying to push the fatigue and the headache away. If not for Vasha's drink that had smelled so intoxicating, she wouldn't be feeling this right now.
"You always were a woman of conviction," Raymond said with a slight chuckle.
Kara couldn't help but think he wanted to say more than he did. "But you think it'll end up killing me one day, huh?"
Raymond's eyes went wide. She’d hit the stake in the heart. "Don't worry, I can't read minds. It was just obvious what you wanted to say."
Raymond nodded, his expression changing to concern. "I just don't want you to die, Kara. Those other guys just don't understand, but someday they'll come around."
"I don't want to wait a few generations for that to happen," Kara replied, rubbing her neck and temples.
"Well, I think you're really cool." Kara glanced over at Raymond and he shook his head. "I… I mean your powers." He took a few breaths and wiped his brow. "I think it would be awesome to be able to move things with your mind, or read other people's minds."
"I think if you were the one who had this blessing you'd think differently. Although, having the power to read people's minds could come in handy. I wish I had that. Maybe then I wouldn't have to do all this running around."
"Well, telekinesis is still pretty cool, and what was it you called that other thing… where you can see people before they die?"
"Death Knell."
Raymond chuckled. "For whom the bell tolls, huh?"
"Exactly," Kara replied with a smile. The headache wasn't gone, but it had subsided a bit. She leaned over and hugged Raymond. "Thank you Ray, you've always been there when I needed you, and I haven't been a good friend to you."
Raymond pulled away from Kara and shook his head vigorously. "Don't say that. I know why you don't come around anymore…" He trailed off, not wanted to bring up old wounds, or retread fresh ones received from Damien. "I could try harder, if it wasn't for all the crowds."
Kara had a sad smile on her face. "Tell you what, when all this is over, let's all go to that restaurant you like."
Raymond laughed. "The one with the horrible food?"
Kara nodded. "At least there we don't have to worry about crowds."
"True that," Raymond said with a smile.
Kara gave Raymond another hug, said her goodbye, and left the car. She waved to him as he drove back to the house where he, Damien, and the others lived.
She could feel the pang of hunger and the desire to bite someone's neck open. The couples in the park were tempting, but Kara meditated for a moment and the pang was gone. She needed to focus.
She pulled out her phone and texted the number on Vasha's business card. She asked if there was any further information on Olivia, as she had been able to confirm she was with the police.
After a moment, she received a reply, but it was a generic text about Vasha's restaurant saying that it can't accept texts. Of course she wouldn't put her real number on the business card. Despite that, after another moment passed, she received another text from a different number saying to come to the restaurant.
She rode a cab back to the restaurant, lamenting the fares she'd had to pay over the course of the day. When this is over, Liv, you're treating me and Ray to that meal.
She went into the restaurant and to the back, where Vasha was still sitting at the chef's table, this time for supper. The bodyguards stepped aside to let Kara pass, but kept a watchful eye on her lest she try something again.
Kara stood at the edge of the table. "Did you get Olivia out?"
"Please, sit." Kara obliged and sat down across from Vasha. "Olivia is in police custody, but it is off the books. As for getting her released, I wasn't able to secure that."
"What?"
"As she is being kept off the records, they are forgoing due process, and committing an illegal act. Even if they w
ere to just let her go, it would in effect be acknowledging their illegal activity. All my inquiries went unheeded."
Kara gritted her teeth. "I thought you said you were going to handle this."
Vasha raised her eyebrow. "I said I would apply some pressure and see what I could find out. This is what I found out. I have about as much sway with psychics as I do with the weather. It is an unfortunate reality for ones such as ourselves who work outside the law."
Kara started tapping her feet on the floor. The headache was creeping its way through her skull, and she could feel it behind her eyes now. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head.
"What now, then? What can we do?"
Vasha put on her best look of concern, but it felt hollow to Kara. "I'm afraid we are at the mercy of the detectives that have her in custody. Unless they release her, or someone breaks in to rescue her, there's not much we can do."
Break in…? "That's it."
"Hmm?" Vasha mumbled, intrigued.
"I'm going to break into the police station to rescue Olivia."
4. THE THIRD EYE OPENS AS THE FANGS CLOSE