Cause of Death: Unnatural

"Em?You still with us?"

"Hunh? I mean, yes," said Em, quickly taking a swig of her drink. It was a tall vodka and lime - the usual. Every Thursday the girls gathered at the Corner Bar after work. It had become a bit of a tradition and even the bartenders had the drinks lined up when they saw the group approaching. Jennifer was there and a few of the girls from the office - again, the usual. Em was thinking about Alina and the killings. Well, she was thinking about Jarek, and Nick, and Robert, and trying to think about Alina and the killings, but either way she was not paying much attention to the gaggle of girls sitting around the table.

"So, how was it?"

Em stared at Bec for a second. She gently slipped her mind into the recesses of Bec's memory and tried to read the question while it still lingered in her friend's mind. Something about the burlesque club. She couldn't escape it, could she?

"It was cool," said Em. "Flesh and feathers, muscles and leather - just what you'd expect. The show was actually quite good." She stopped.

"And?" said Bec.

"And the vibe was ... well ... I have to say it was pretty dark and mysterious." No point in lying, thought Em. The girls all looked at her. "It was a moody sort of place," she said.

"What does that mean?" said Georgia. "I get moody when I don't get enough chocolate. Is that what we're talking about?"

Em tossed a peanut at Georgia and grinned. "No, idiot. I mean there was an awful lot of eyeliner - on the blokes! You know what I mean. It was like Berlin in the 1930s crossed with acid techno. Or something," she finished vaguely. Really, with a thousand years more experience than the others she should be better at this kind of thing, but clubs had never been her scene.

"It's alright, Em," said Georgia. "You're just such a geek, honey. A pathologist on a date with her boss. Trust you to completely miss the celebrities who were there that night and instead give us a lesson on European history."

They all chucked.

"There were celebrities?" asked Em, but the girls were off again on a new flurry of gossip about Alina's club.

The news of four young men murdered on the club's doorstep didn't seem to feature in the gossip much at all. Strange, thought Em. The killings had hit the papers with a big splash, and had just the effect Alina had imagined. The place was suddenly the hottest ticket in town, with the nightly lines at the door snaking right down the laneway that the bodies had been found in.

Her girlfriends had asked her about the killings, knowing that she was likely to be working on the case, but there wasn't much she could tell them, and Em wasn't really sure they were especially interested in her answers anyway. They were collecting gossip, that was all. Em had told them she thought they should stay away until the killer had been found, but that advice had fallen on deaf ears too. What was going on in her life, wondered Em, when she, one of the darkest creatures of the wildness of eternity, should have more common sense than her human companions?

"Well, aside from all those gorgeous bodies that seem to be going there every night, have you heard the other news about the place?" asked Bec, her eyes narrowing and gazing at her friends conspiratorially. "I probably shouldn't be telling you..."

"Is it the sex room?" asked Georgia, with a quirky but definitely interested grin.

"There's a sex room?" said Em, and then ducked as Georgia tossed a peanut back at her.

The girls all groaned and laughed.

"You're unbelievable, Em," said Georgia. "I can't figure out how you don't hear this stuff. You're a crime scene investigator, for heaven's sake! Aren't you supposed to have your ear to the ground? And you were there last week, with a backstage tour!"

"It's just my innocent and trusting nature, I suppose," said Em, and then grinned as the groans started up again. They knew she wasn't that innocent.

"So, what's the scandal?" asked Jennifer.

"The club apparently has a resident dealer," said Bec.

Em pricked up her ears at this. Bec was dating a lieutenant in the narcotics division so she'd almost certainly be speaking the truth. A resident dealer could complicate things a little, thought Em. The balance of power between the existing gangs in this town was all based on who was selling what, and where, and a new dealer in town would certainly unsettle that balance. Enough for the gang heavies to start leaving bodies on the club's doorstep? wondered Em. Maybe, but that didn't explain the vicious nature of the killings...

Bec was still talking. "Apparently this dealer is just hovering at the very edges of legal. He's not pushing crack or meth or anything that would get the local dealer's upset, but things like steroids and morphine, and some rather quaint old stuff like opium and poppy tea."

"Poppy tea?" exploded Jennifer with a giggle. "That sounds ridiculous."

That sounds very, very interesting, thought Em. "Do you know if this dealer's got a name?" she asked Bec.

Bec shook her head. "Nope, but I hear he hangs out around the old warehouses up that end of town. Why, you looking to buy?" She smiled.

"No, but I might talk with your boy about it. It could have something to do with those bodies we found outside the club."

"Do you think you could get us in there?" asked Jennifer, her short attention span showing again. "Come on Em. You had a personal invitation, and now you've got a hundred excuses to go there whenever you like because of the case. Surely you can get our names on the door. I'm busting to see the place."

Em resisted rolling her eyes. She smiled and stood up. "I'm just going to the ladies," she said. "Get me another vodka will you please, Jennifer, and then I'll get the next round. I'll be back."

She needed to think. The women's restroom was empty. Em sank into a chair in the corner next to a potted palm tree and a small table with a selection of cheap perfumes. It looked like a suitably comfortable place for brooding.

So, Alina had a drug dealer who specialized in blood and its fixings, and who hung out in the old warehouses. Em was pretty sure she knew exactly who that would be. She was overdue to pay him a call, actually. It made sense that this might be the dealer Alina was in league with.

Will was one of those useful mortals who came from a long tradition of serving the darker energies of the Family and the lower vampires. There had always been humans like Will - procurers - even in the days when life was cheaper and vampires had no compunctions feeding off the general population. These days, people like Will were essential for any of the Family who chose to live around the edges of a mortal existence, and for the lower vampires who didn't want to spend their new lives running from the law.

Will was the local caterer, for want of a better word, and Em was one of his regular customers. Sure, she could get by without the red stuff, but a girl's gotta get her fix every now and then, right?

Alina and her host of dancing vampires had the same requirements. Poor Will, business must have exploded for him lately. She hoped he was keeping up with demand. Had Alina offered him a deal he couldn't refuse, or had she coerced him into the role? Em had no idea, and that brought her to the other mystery in this whole affair.

Until these headaches of hers had started a few weeks ago, Em could confidently say she knew everything that went down in this town, mortal or supernatural. To be laughed at by her own girlfriends for not knowing about Alina's new club and its kinky secrets was not just embarrassing, it was worrying. At first she'd thought the headaches were just that - headaches. And why would she worry? Vampires don't get migraines, they don't get brain tumors - she just thought she was working too hard.

But when it became clearer that someone, or something, was causing the headaches Em thought it would simply be a matter of finding out who it was. That was proving to be more difficult than she'd expected, and she wasn't used to being this ineffectual. It was irritating, and it was worrying. The more Em thought about it, the more she had to admit that there was someone in town who was more powerful than her. And that thought was very unnerving.

She'd have to talk to Jarek about it. Could he feel it too?

Talking to Will should definitely be the next step. Will would know Alina's secrets, he might even know who this new power was. She'd love to just show up at Will's, sort it out and close the damn case, but she knew that Bec's lieutenant and Robert would probably put two and two together soon enough and the team would all be down at the warehouses looking for Will anyway. She may as well do it all on the level. Explaining her hunch about 'the dealer' connected to Alina's would be easy. It would be more challenging to lead a search for his location without revealing that she goes there every few weeks herself. But what was she saying? She loved a challenge.

Em sighed. There she was planning to dupe Robert again. The man didn't deserve it. He might be a bit of a geek, but he was blisteringly intelligent, sophisticated, and, if she admitted it, had a sense of humor as dark as her own. She was beginning to realize his curious desires might plunge just as deeply into the dark. That was appealing. She probably owed him a little bit more than smart conversation and clever flirting. But he wasn't Nick.

Nick wanted her to attend this family lunch he'd invited her to. What was it? A nephew's Christening, or something? Now, that was getting serious.

And Jarek, of course, just messed up all of that...

The slam of the bathroom door hitting the wall broke into her thoughts. Em got to her feet. The sound of slightly drunken giggles and the scuff of stumbling high heels emerged from the other side of the doorway.

"Oops!" came Jennifer's voice, overly loud. Em went to help her friend before she walked into something pointy.

And then there was Jennifer, Em reminded herself, and the vodka. Gotta work on that too.

"Emilia, daaarling, you're back!" This evening Alina had squeezed her voluptuous frame into a metallic silver satin sheath dress with a split up one leg that revealed rather an off-putting amount of thigh. A black feather boa was draped around her shoulders and a ludicrously large tiara perched on her black beehived hair. The razor sharp retort that Em historically delivered whenever she met Alina died in her mouth as she surveyed the woman's outrageous outfit. Alina was just so different like this. Em doubted her father would even want her back.

"And who have you brought us, my dear?" Alina continued, eyeing Jennifer hungrily.

Jennifer had finally convinced Em to bring her along to the club, against Em's better judgement. It was late in the evening and Em was there to try to find Alina's live-in drug dealer, not that she was going to tell Alina that. She'd told Jennifer she could get her in, but she was on business. As soon as she was done, she'd be going. After that Jennifer had better behave herself.

"Yes, mom," Jennifer had said, rolling her eyes, and Em had felt slightly guilty.

"This is Jennifer. A friend of mine," said Em.

Alina shook the end of her boa playfully under Jennifer's chin. "And isn't she an angel. Where did you get her?" she said.

Jennifer looked pleased, and slightly bemused, but Alina threw an arm over her shoulder and squeezed her tightly. "Any friend of Emilia's is welcome here, my dear. May I steal her, Emilia? Let me give you the VIP tour, Jennifer. I'm sure you'll just adore my little place."

Jennifer had time to flash Em an I-owe-you-one smile before Alina swept her away to the bar and into the milling throng of the club.

Em flashed a tendril of dark energy into Alina's mind. She's mine, Alina. Don't you dare do anything to her.

In the distance, Alina waved a hand airily in Em's direction and the thought came back to her: Keep your knickers on, Emilia. I'm just having some fun.

Em sighed and turned to survey the club. The burlesque show had already finished, the music was loud, and the patronage were concentrating on their poisons of choice. The tables and chairs had been cleared away and the dance floor was full, grinding.

Em let her energy flow loosely across the crowd. She was going to search the room her own way. Soul-searching, she called it. Every soul was different, and most carried the marks and scars of their owner's lives. This drug dealer, she was only assuming it was Will, would feel different. Drug dealers always did. There were others in the general populace - doctors, butchers, lawyers, plumbers - who had some darkened corners on their souls, but they were just corners. In the soul of a drug dealer that darkness was a blackness that soaked through and through. They made their living from twisting the spirits of mortals, from buying slavery and addiction with bittersweet honey, and from hiding in the shadows. That left a mark on the soul that stood out like a beacon.

All the same, a room with this many bodies made the task a little more difficult, and Em was both annoyed and intrigued to find her headache had returned when she had entered the club. She wandered through the crowd, allowing her mind to ripple over every existence in the room. Just one gentle push at each and every mind, and then she'd pull right back if she didn't sense that dark and tell tale difference.

It was a motley group. Most were just civilians, a range of ages, but with some decidedly twisted tendencies showing. A good number were lower vampires - mostly Alina's staff, she guessed, and ...

Em had no idea what that was.

That mind wasn't human, nor had it never had been. It wasn't mortal, but it didn't feel entirely vampire either. It wasn't Family, and it wasn't wolf. It wasn't...

Em pushed a little further at the mind and shivered. Whoever it belonged to, it held more hostility than Em had ever encountered before. It wasn't a hostility based on hunger, or greed - it was hatred, Em realized. A hatred that made her decidedly uneasy. She pulled her thoughts back quickly, but even as she did, she was sure the mind had not been aware of her presence.

She scanned the crowd using her eyes instead of her mind, and began moving toward the corner of the room where she'd felt the ... whatever it was.

There were quite a collection of Alina's vampires there. Her muscled dancers were writhing together, all open shirts and tight jeans, and short skirts and bra tops. The doorman was there, standing to one side, a dark coloured drink in one hand, a girl pressed against his side. He stared at Em, and smiled thinly. He nodded toward the center of the group of dancers.

Em walked closer and then...

"Oof!" She'd walked right into a girl in a black net dress, who stepped aside to reveal Raeisa wrapped around - oh god - Jennifer.

Jennifer giggled, but Raeisa wiped a hand across her lips and started moving toward Em. Em felt the rest of the vampires in the group focus their attention on the pair of them. She heard Jennifer giggle again, and then, as Raeisa's fingertips brushed against Em's skin, the headache Em had been holding back exploded in a searing, burning burst of white hot noise so violently Em staggered and had to close her eyes.

She pushed out wildly and felt Raeisa stumble back. There was so much pain in her head, and then in one shocking instant, it disappeared until just the usual headache was left there, as if nothing had happened.

Raeisa stared at Em for a second or two, a very small smile curling around her lips. Em pushed with her mind again, and met the same unworldly hatred she'd felt earlier. Yes, there was no doubt about it now. Raeisa was the source of the hatred, and probably the headache too. But then Raeisa shrugged, and slung an arm around Jennifer, the two of them pulsing in time to the music. Had she even felt Em's mind touch?

The vampires in the group were still watching Em closely. Em glanced at the doorman. He looked at her darkly and shook his head almost imperceptibly. Em took one more look at Raeisa, and felt the tension in the watching vampires rise sharply. She turned away.

What the hell was that? wondered Em. What kind of bitch was Raeisa, and did Alina know what she was? Alina had introduced Raeisa as her favorite, remembered Em. But then she'd seemed nervous when Raeisa arrived during their talk after the killings. The vampires had seemed frightened just now. Of Raeisa? The red headed girl had seemed completely unaware of Em's searching energies pushing at her mind. Em had been pretty ruffled by whatever had caused that blast of pain in her head. The gentle push she'd been 'soul searching' the room with earlier was probably a less than subtle thrust when she tested Raeisa just then. Surely, any creature with any amount of power would have felt that! But Raeisa had just shrugged.

Em didn't have time for this right now. She was here to find this dealer. Raeisa could wait. She keep an eye on her, maybe send Jarek to sort her out. The dealer would be able to give her more information about Raeisa and Alina's relationship to her - so long as she asked him nicely, of course. Now she just had to find him.

She focused her mind, and the headache subsided to its usual dull murmur.

There he was. Not in a corner as she'd been half expecting, but right out in the open, leaning against the bar. Em pushed her way through the people gathered around him and suddenly stopped short. She hadn't actually expected her hypothesis to be right.

She did know this drug dealer. He was her dealer.

Em took a deep breath as the man turned a happily surprised smile toward her. "Em!" he exclaimed. "I've missed you. Let me buy you a drink."

Em stepped in and kissed him on the cheek. She whispered into his ear, "Will, we need to talk."