Darkest Before the Dawn (male/male)

Felix

Sometimes I had to remind myself that life wasn’t a show or movie. Disappointment was able to strike at any moment, disregarding every single hope that I had held onto to get me through the last month, anticipation of Mew returning slowly morphing into hurt every time I visited his home to take care of his cats. Despite knowing he hadn’t returned from Hell yet, I still found my eyes dancing around the Mazerene courthouse ballroom, searching for bronze skin and tousled white hair, hoping to spot any tell-tale signs of Mew adorned in lace collars and velvet capes.

I had been cheated out of seeing him in a horrendously gaudy masquerade costume. I wanted my retribution.

And because she knew I was already in a foul mood, Goldie allowed me to dress in a far laxer costume than what she had originally intended for me, akin to something Oscar Wild would have worn instead of some awful Michelangelo type getup. I was spared the wool hose and jerkin, instead adorned in flannel trousers and a waist coat. The nymph had talked me into a mask to compliment hers; mine, a black wolf masquerade mask that covered half my face, hers a white lamb one decorated with lace.

The sky blue dress she wore made her easy to identify, the corseted bodice sprinkled with rhinestones and the skirt draped in layers of tulle. Marigold looked like a princess tonight, the tight coils of her golden hair now smoothed back into a bouncy low ponytail with pearls strung through the curls. I loved watching her move gracefully through the swaying and socializing crowds, her eyebrows furrowed as she drifted towards me. “You’re not enjoying yourself,” she observed, pulling a chair next to mine at the table I had made my own.

“I’m enjoying watching you have fun,” I insisted, folding my hands into my lap.

She rolled her eyes and began to remove her white gloves, folding them on the table and waving over a server who was carrying a tray of crackers and olive tapenade. “Are these crackers made with butter?” she asked the waiter softly, who squinted suspiciously at her. “Whatever, it’s fine.” Goldie blinked at me after the server left, silently trying to inform me of what she thought of the waiter. “Like I know I have a picky diet, but if you work on this island, you should be used to odd diets, you know?”

I sipped at my wine glass of blood and nodded in agreement.

We sat there for a few silent moments, Goldie snacking on olives and what we hoped to be vegan crackers, me twirling my dinner around in its glass, wondering when Goldie was going to scold me for removing myself from the rest of the Halloween party. She exceeded my expectations when she allowed for two whole minutes to go by before bringing it up. “I know you want them to be here. I do, too. You probably more than me since this was supposed to be a special night for you and Barty.” She sighed and settled her elbows on the table so that she could cup her chin in her hands. “If you want to leave, I won’t be upset. I understand.”

I sat up and placed my glass back on the table, then leaned over to casually bump my shoulder into hers. Guilt trickled in like a breaking dam. “Hey, I’m sorry. I’m being a really bad friend right now when I know you’ve been excited about this for a while.” Standing, I lowered my mask back over my face and offered her my hand, a peace offering that I hoped would rid us of any tension. “I would love to dance with you, Goldie. Would you do me the honor?”

Her face softened, the corner of her red lips turning upwards. “Of course, Fee,” she responded, placing her ungloved hand in mine. “I didn’t take you to be much of a dancer.”

“I’m not good by any means, but I didn’t want you to dance with anyone else.” Guiding her back out into the sweeping crowds of Mazerene guests, we swayed together carefully, following our own beat. I hadn’t ballroom danced with anyone like this in years, not since I was a human. A familiar longing awakened in my heart, just like it always did whenever I was brought back to my days amongst the living. Sometimes it was a challenge to stay in the moment and allow myself to enjoy whatever was occurring.

“What’s on your mind, friend?” Goldie asked me, twirling back in from a spin.

Goldie was my best friend, a fact I had to remind myself of sometimes whenever I felt compelled to lie to her about my thought processes. “I haven’t danced like this in an extraordinarily long time,” I admitted, pivoting us away from another couple. “It’s something I’m not used to anymore.”

Her left hand moved from my shoulder and her right slipped out of my left palm, instead dangling her hands around my neck in a more relaxed position. “Is this better?” she asked, tipping her head when I nodded. She seemed more at ease when I did the same thing to her, my fingers limply latched together at the top of her spine. We may have looked awkward and far less formal than other partners, but this suited us better. “Barty and Cadence taught me how to dance. Their parents made it some weird requirement that they learned how to waltz and do all these funky dances.” She cackled, throwing her head back in glee, a light in the mellow tone of the room. “You should see them dance together. They’re talented, but it’s ridiculous because Cadence wants to lead, even though she’s so short.”

“I never took Mew for a dancing type.” Although I had seen him move agilely before, light on his feet like a large cat on the prowl. Thinking about it, even when he was furious with me or some other situation, he never stomped or pounded his feet, merely drifted from the room in a wash of anger. It wasn’t surprising with the way his parents were described. He had probably grown used to having to sneak around his childhood home in order to avoid them, leading to him having a meek footfall.

My mind once again wandered, hoping he was alright being back in Hell, wishing yet again that a red envelope would be in my mailbox when I returned that following night.

Akiya was the one to gather my thoughts up for me this time. “Detective Elliot, Detective Marigold,” he beckoned once the nymph and I floated past him, neither of us having said a word for several moments, enjoying being in each other’s presence.

He stood next to a taller man, whom I had met only once before when I first started at MMES. “I’m sure you two remember my husband, Evander,” Akiya began, motioning towards the other vampire. “Sweetie, these two are working on that case involving the Blood Rights Foundation I’ve been telling you about.”

“Thank you for what you’re doing on it,” Evander started, smiling at me and my partner. “I know it isn’t easy to prosecute your own kind, but they’re committing heinous crimes that the rest of us can’t idly stand by to watch. And it’s my understanding that you have Bartholomew on your own team, which makes it all the more pressing.”

“Yes, it’s unfortunately grown into a far more personal matter,” I responded, grateful Akiya had taken the time to brief his husband on the matter at hand. “It’s been nearly a month since I’ve heard from Detective Palmer, so I’m sure you can imagine how concerned I’ve been.” Admitting that the following day would be November and that I hadn’t heard anything from him since the 4th of October immediately made my mood deplete into something abysmal.

Akiya raised his mask to cover his forehead, allowing me to catch the pensive expression he wore. “I was hoping to speak to you two about that, actually. We may have some news from Gehenna about what’s going on down there. As I’m sure you’re aware, getting to and from Hell has become difficult since those who rule there aren’t allowing demons to gallivant around anymore, not like they used to.”

“Barty and Cade have mentioned their work visas but never went into detail,” Goldie provided, glancing at me to check that we were on the same page with our information.

“All of our employed demons have had to acquire them in previous years, which was a new change,” Akiya confirmed. “There was a change in government or the bureaucracy there or something along those lines. It’s rather difficult to get information from those in charge. However, we did receive word that there’s a new program to assist demons living here to emigrate back to Hell until we can guarantee their safety. It seems that the program is run by a Xavier and Adelaide Palmer, if those names are familiar to you.”

“Mew’s parents,” I supplied, receiving a stiff nod from my boss. “Were the Palmer siblings the first ones to be moved?”

“I believe so. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have told us as councilors to pass on the information, so I’m passing it onto you since you actively work with demons who may be at risk.” His weight shifted from his left hip to his right, an indicator that he didn’t want to say what was on his mind. He rarely did that, with how blunt he was, causing the air to change around us with the information he had. “I also wanted to inform you that I increased the sentencing for Madeline Castor. After Layla Keese’s confession about Madeline being dishonest with her information, I gave her an additional twenty years for further aiding and abetting. I hope you understand that, due to my position as a reaper, I couldn’t have modified her sentence until there was known proof of her lying under oath.”

We had talked about that before, during Madeline’s initial sentencing. His position as a councilor of Mazerene was only to give out sentences based on discovered knowledge. As frustrating as it was, I understand that there had to be some cosmic balance he maintained by keeping his mouth closed on various factors. That especially pertained to cases like these where dishonesty was involved.

“She was really lying about how involved she was with the BRF?” I asked slowly, as if there had been some strand of hope that was cut from his words.

Akiya sighed, understanding how distraught this made me. “Unfortunately. She gave the idea to come further south, apparently, and she started the idea for them to take demons from other states by using the census. It’s incredibly helpful to have this program with Hell to allow demons to go back easily since the BRF has only just begun their terror.” He paused, studying my expression. “Her honesty did extend to her piece about you, however. Many of her motives spurred from her desire over contacting you again.”

Marigold gave my forearm a squeeze, a silent reminder that now wasn’t the time to lash out about the actions of Madeline. It’s something I should have been used to with my ex. Nonetheless, it still hurt whenever there was a new discovery on how abhorrent she could be.

An image flashed in my head briefly, one of spotting her in a crowd for a Vietnam War protest that had gone into the night, her outfit comprised of a suede miniskirt and peasant blouse, hair curled in the Farrah Fawcett style. She had told me then that she was there to support peace because she never believed that violence was the only way to solve things. Her being a vampire, the first one I had met after coming to America, only enticed me further to fall into her snare.

I felt like an idiot.

“I understand your feelings of being lied to,” Akiya consoled, searching the polished tile floor, avoiding my eyes in any way he could. “What she did to you isn’t right. I hope you’ll find some solace in knowing that she will remain imprisoned for longer than what was initially given, and I’m sorry again for not giving you the whole story. You know I operate a little differently than typical investigators.” At that, his eyes flashed brightly, the dark brown replaced with a pale gold, gleaming brightly from beneath his eyelashes. “Things will begin to get better for you. Learn to be patient, Detective Elliot. It will pay off more if you do.”

“Are you always so ominous with your subordinates?” Evander asked his husband, elbowing him in the shoulder, attempting to break up the tension that had been built these last few minutes. It somewhat snapped me out of the grimness that was encroaching on my thoughts.

“I have an air of mystery to maintain,” Akiya teased, lowering his mask again. “Now come on, you and I haven’t danced together in a while. Enjoy your evening, detectives.” Linking arms with Evander, Akiya led him off to the center of the decorated ballroom, leaving me and Goldie staring after them.

“He’s such a goober around his husband,” my partner muttered, leaning into me, laughter in her voice. “Like I want to be afraid of him with his power to just kill on contact, but it’s hard to be when he’s all domesticated and slow dancing with someone.” She lightly slapped my chest with the back of her hand. “What do you think he meant when he said to be patient?” She knew not to bring anything up about Madeline. I know she couldn’t read minds, but she must have been able to read emotions.

I shrugged, watching the reaper and Evander, a jealousy rising in my chest because I wanted so badly for that to be me and Mew out there, him cracking some awful, sarcastic joke and me attempting to maintain my poise around him. The longing for him was strengthening every day, becoming tougher to tolerate as the days moved on like they didn’t care that Mew was gone. “Goldie—”

“I know. Go on to your hotel, Fee.” She faced me now and pulled me into a squeeze, her heartbeat and breathing steady, indicating that she wasn’t secretly fuming at me for my behavior “Thanks for hanging out with me for a while. We’ll get together tomorrow for dinner before you leave for Georgia.”

A low chuckle emerged from my throat, and I took a careful step away from her. “No, you dork, I was going to say that this is a wonderful distraction for me. Could we continue our dance?” This wasn’t the night to be selfish, not when she had come over to my hotel room to get ready with me and had been gushing over which songs she hoped the band would play. Seeing the bewilderment pass through her eyes and the gentle curve of her lips made me stay exactly where I was.

“I’d really enjoy that.” We picked up where we had left off, her hand cradled carefully in mine, my arm embracing her waist, feeling only slightly self-conscious that her stilettos put her almost at the same height as me. The shoes didn’t prevent her from gliding across the polished tile, both of us whispering gossip to each other after we swung past other couples, Goldie giggling when I quipped about a neon green suit that an elf was adorned in.

It was almost enough to forget about the outside world for a night. She had shared her warmth with me, that magic of hers that could sedate anyone in a frenzy. For a few hours, my mind was free from thoughts of Madeline and her incessant lying or the worry over Mew’s safety while he was in Hell.

But it didn’t stop two more demons from disappearing, despite the undercover protection Mazerene had stationed around Georgia. Everything had been quiet for nearly six weeks, ever since the body Mew had investigated was pulled from the river. With the arrests of Madeline’s crew, a hope had lit up that the murders would also cease. Two phone calls from demons in Savannah, ones who wanted to report missing family members, sent stress pummeling back into my heart, making it appear that we were right back at square one all over again. This time it was two adult females, both of them moms and wives.

Unlike the original murders and all of them leading up to Layla’s arrest, this wouldn’t have been so simple. Nobody was going to stroll into a hotel and confess to their deeds or happen to be in a vulnerable position like that others we had arrested. The BRF was growing smarter with their movements, opting to take these women from their families instead of attempt to hide the bodies. I couldn’t be sure that there would even be a body or if they were somehow still alive. It was disheartening.

It did me no good to talk to either family about their missing persons. The husbands of Thomasina King and Ruby Abelard could give no insight on who would have wanted to take their wives. Both of the women had been on their own when they were taken – Thomasina returning from her yoga class, Ruby alone at her home while her husband took their kids to the movies. Ruby’s case was especially alarming since home is where you’re supposed to find your most security.

My own sense of security had disappeared when I returned to my own home that night. Goldie and I had parted ways after meeting to discuss the missing women and checking on the Palmer cats. I was looking forward to getting back to my own cat, whom I had been able to be home with for the past few weeks since all of our investigating had taken place in Savannah.

The lock on my front door was undone. Immediately, my silent alarm bells went berserk at the same time my fangs sprung from my gums. Inside my home, my lights were still off, but an unfamiliar scent wafted about. It wasn’t one of coffee and vanilla, not like Mew’s, which I had been hopeful for; nor was it was one of sunshine and honey, Goldie’s typical scent. This one was the fragrance of freshly laundered cotton and moss, something I hadn’t smelled before.

Hades was nowhere to be found, although I heard a faint heartbeat coming from the guest room. At least he was still alive. That brought me some relief.

A footfall from my bedroom sent me darting there, slamming open the master bedroom door without fear. Inside, a shorter man was standing near my window, his hand resting on the windowsill, searching around the room. “What a lovely home you have, Detective Elliot,” he started, flashing his own set of fangs at me. “I hear you’ve been looking for me.”

I almost stumbled back, spotting the jagged stretch of scar tissue down the side of his throat, the mark Mew left him twenty years before. “Richard,” I announced to myself, gathering my thoughts, unwilling to move since I couldn’t tell what his next moves would be.

“That would be me, yes.” He had a faint accent, probably due him having lived in England far longer than I had. His sandy brown hair was clipped short like a traditional Roman’s hairstyle, although he wasn’t adorned in anything different than what I would see someone wear for business casual. He stood at nearly the same height as me. For someone who caused Mew such trauma and dictated the murders of demons for the sake of his cult, he was far from seeming frightening. “I noticed you don’t have your demon pals trailing along with you. Is it true that demons have been returning to Hell?”

“They wouldn’t have had to if it wasn’t for you interrupting their lives.” Neither of us made a move. With his age, I knew he was going to be far faster and stronger than me—even Madeline was more skilled than I was. I would need to rely on my skills as a spy to help me against him. “How did you find my home? Why are you here?”

He sneered and flopped his hands open, shrugging. “Several reasons brought me here. Intimidation, wanting answers, giving answers. I’m not going to hurt you without reason, if that’s your concern.” He nodded at my two highbacked chairs, the very ones Mew had sat in the last time he was over, where we had kissed. “Shall we sit?”

I took the seat Mew had been seated in, hoping that the scent had disappeared enough for Richard to not detect it. I didn’t pick up on that comfortable fragrance of Mew’s and assumed it would be safe. Still, my eyes lingered on Richard, suspicious of his intent, wishing to avoid acting out of violence or anger if it at all possible. These weren’t even playing grounds – he could end me if he felt like it.

“Madeline always did tell me you were wary of everything.” He chuckled lowly, taking the chair to the left of me and settling into it like he found no issue with breaking into someone’s home. “How is she doing, by the by? Haven’t spoken with her since you had her arrested. She filled her little posse in on where you lived in case I ever needed to come and do a house visit.” There was nothing in his tone to indicate anger or annoyance. It was almost eerily steady, a mask he had probably practiced maintaining.

“Does she know anything about the missing women?” I asked brusquely. In my heart, I wanted him to say no—not for any reason of excusing her guilt, but for the fact that I wouldn’t have to question her about it. This would allow me to avoid her again, just like I had been doing since the last BRF meeting where Mew had allowed me to drink from him. With me, it seemed all roads led to Mew.

He scoffed and reached over to turn on the lamp on my end table. “No, she doesn’t know about that. With that said, she is aware of quite a few other things.”

“The usage of the census and spreading to other states,” I confirmed, already showing what I had learned from Layla. It had been several weeks since I spoke with Layla, now nearing the first week of November, but I still couldn’t forget what she had said about Madeline being the mastermind behind several of the BRF’s plans. Akiya confirming it struck me harder than I had thought it would, too, no matter how much I wanted to ignore it.

Richard cracked a smile. “Yes, those were good ideas of hers. She created the plan to get arrested and use a plea deal to still attend meetings. It was also her idea to have you be attacked at the most recent one. Now, I will take some credit and admit that I planted that Mazerene fellow so he could work there and gather some information for me after Madeline created the idea of using a census. But Madeline was the mastermind behind a lot of your present issues.” He waved his finger at me like he was finishing up a good joke. “For a woman who talks so obsessively over you, she certainly wanted to ruin you.”

A bolt of electricity sparked up my spine, a storm brewing beneath the surface of my skin and inside of my organs. On the surface, from Richard’s perspective, I could only hope that there was an expression of awareness, like this wasn’t news to me. It shouldn’t have been news to me. Knowing for years that her goal was to crush me wasn’t new information; however, seeing how badly she wanted to do it was different.

Before, it was withholding blood from me and having me research my loved ones to know their fates. Now, it was a slow burn to waste me, digging into my career and directly involving people I cared deeply about currently. “Why are you telling me all of this?” I choked out. I wanted Richard gone, this harbinger and homicidal leader.

“I’m offering you a position on the Foundation to help seek your revenge on her,” he explained, sounding like a sleazy salesman, selling nothing but snake oil. “Nothing would drive her madder than you taking her position as my right-hand partner. We would do so well together with your knowledge of demons on Maz—”

“Go sit in the fucking sunlight,” I hissed, channeling my inner Mew. “You almost killed my partner twenty years ago. Because of you, the people I care about were put in danger and have had to escape. Demons have been murdered from your direct order.”

“Oh, I can’t take all the credit for that, now. The devil whispers in the ears of sinners, Detective Elliot. Madeline helped me with my scheme of murdering demons, believing it would be easier to deal with them once they were dead,” Richard explained, rising from his position on my seat. “My plan was to capture them and use them as constant supplies of blood. Bloodshed was her end goal, created after I disclosed my encounter with your partner all those years ago.”

My eyebrows furrowed, connecting the dots mentally. “You’re leaving those two women alive, then,” I suggested, my eye flinching when he gave an easy nod. “That’s sick and wrong. You’re keeping them like animals.”

“Isn’t it what humans do to cattle and poultry? How is this any different?”

“That certainly isn’t right, either, but these are women with families and lives,” I snapped, wishing I had someone here to help reel me in before I did anything stupid. “You have no right to abduct them and use them for food. Vampires haven’t done that in centuries.”

“Vampires do it all the time,” he argued, giving some indication that he was growing flustered, his expression molting into one of annoyance. “You may not do it since you have easy access to blood, using blood banks and those supplies on Mazerene, but what of the rest of us? Why are we having to be subjected to tainted, foul blood of drug users and murderers? Have you never tasted the blood of a demon to be able to experience the pure pleasure that comes from it?”

“I have, actually, from the very demon that you nearly killed, yet it hasn’t provided me with the same bloodlust you and the BRF seem to be encountering. If other vampires are having a difficult time with locating quality blood, Mazerene can help you. There’s no need for anymore murders or captives.” Appealing to the logic of a cult leader was likely to get me nowhere. Any chance I had at stopping him was a chance taken, however.

He leaned forward, studying me now, narrowing his eyes in wonder. “Ah, so you finally consumed demon blood?” he whispered. “And it didn’t absolutely enthrall you?” I shook my head. He bellowed a laugh. “Fascinating. It was the same blood you had that even started this massive scheme of mine. His is particularly different from—”

“Do you even know his name?” I asked, realizing he had never said Mew’s name. Not in the text he had sent to Adrianna after Mew had shot her, not when he asked about Mew’s whereabouts, and not even when he was bragging to me about the taste of his blood.

Richard sucked on the inside of his cheek and peered at my wall, thinking. “No, I don’t believe I do. I know what he looks like and tastes like.”

That made it worse, I think. If he had known Mew’s name and shown some sort of humanity, it could have been a little different. He would have demonstrated some care in at least knowing his victim. But Mew was just some nameless demon to him. “You almost killed him. You traumatized him to the point that he couldn’t even stand to be around me or any other vampire without panicking.”

The smirk almost sent me out of the chair. “I suppose it wouldn’t do you any good for me to tell you what I did. It seems you’ve already made your decision about me.” The smirk evolved into a grin. I had to grip the arms of the seat to prevent me from launching myself at him. “A meat hook was involved, though. It really inhibits people from moving.”

“You need to leave,” I warned, the need for blood bubbling inside of me. Not to drink, rather to spill.

A spark in his eye told me he wasn’t going to stop now. “See, I had sampled the blood of other creatures before, but had to try demon’s blood,” he slowly said, ensuring that I was listening to him. “He was supposed to be patrolling the area because he heard that there was a vampire or two who was on the verge of bloodlust, and this poor boy was trying to be incredibly helpful to me—”

A hole in my wall, the size of a skull, was formed when I had him shoved against it, my fists clenched in the top of his shirt. A ferocity I hadn’t felt since I was still with Madeline had surged up from somewhere deep from within, screaming at me to take Richard’s head. “I told you that you need to leave,” I growled, our faces only a finger-length apart.

“If you’re going to try to kill me, you need to do a better job of it.” There wasn’t anytime to react before he sent me sprawling back into my fireplace mantle, my head thwacking against the stone. Around me, the room spun and danced while my eyes ricocheted in their sockets. I smelled my own blood. I wasn’t permitted any time to recover before Richard was back on me again, my throat in his grip.

Behind me, I felt the flutter of my curtains and the cold slab of glass, my back splintering the pane of my window. For just a second, I stayed in the air, catching a glimpse of Richard’s steely glare before plummeting two stories to the leafy ground. Everything went by in a flash, from me having him pinned against the wall to me now recognizing that I had been chucked from my bedroom window.

I couldn’t move. My shoulder blades shifted in such a way that I knew they were temporarily broken, while I felt my spine become unaligned as vertebrae got blasted out of place. From the way my vision blacked out momentarily, I knew my skull was cracked, jarring me since I hadn’t been injured like this before. There was no telling how long this would take to heal. What I did know was that the pain was far worse than when Adrianna had dug her hand into my stomach, possibly more than when I had first become a vampire.

Richard was leering over me, toeing me with his deck shoes to check if I could move. My fingers twitched, barely. “Should you decide to be courageous enough again to try that, make sure you kill me. If I encounter you again, I will put an end to your short little life.” Once again, the smirk was there. “I should say when I encounter you again. Hopefully you’ll have a different attitude on the Foundation next time.”

The entirety of my willpower went into keeping my mouth shut. I couldn’t afford to say another word, not when I was pretty sure my left shoulder blade was thoroughly fractured. If I had been human still, I certainly would have died with the way my skull was busted. I felt the blood trickling down into my hair, the smell pungent and biting.

“You’ll be healed before the sun comes up,” Richard assured after checking his watch. “Do make sure to remember this whenever you feel a little too arrogant, though.”

And he left me there, shattered on the ground, making me wish I had stayed in the chair like I had intended. Me going after him did nothing but confirm that he was stronger than me by miles. It could only make me think of what he had done to Mew if he did this to me without a second thought, what he could do to any demon he could get his hands on.

I hoped that the next time Richard and I interacted, I would be able to give Mew his vengeance with me alongside him.