Not What She Seems

chapter 23



“Hi. What’s going on?” Sylvia asked Lilith when she picked up on the first ring.

“Where are you?” Her tone was frazzled.

“Out of state for a little break from everything, why?” She preferred not to let Lilith know about her trip to Peterborough, but her tone scared her. She was always so calm and collected. The fact that she even sounded so upset pointed to bad news indeed.

Lilith exhaled noisily. “I’m so glad to hear it. We thought he had gotten you.”

“Why? What are you talking about?” she demanded. She understood that Lilith was referring to the Hunter but she didn’t understand what was going on. How could the Hunter possibly get her, when she wasn’t even in Boston anymore?

“Tucker- he’s dead, Sylvia,” Lilith paused to collect herself. “The Hunter broke into your apartment last night and-”

“But I’ve got an alarm system, didn’t the alarm go off?” Fear gripped her in its icy grasp as she realized how lucky it was that she was out of town. Lucky for her, but not for Tucker.

“Yes, it did, which is how the police knew to go check it out, but it still took them almost ten minutes to arrive at the scene.”

“So Tucker’s dead?” Even though she didn’t really know him, she felt overwhelmed by the news. Tucker was dead because the Hunter had come looking for her. Guilt consumed her.

“Yes, stabbed to death. Listen, the police don’t know yet that the Hunter did this, since the crime is so much different than the serial killings they’ve been examining, but I’m quite sure it was him. And Sylvia, there’s more.”

“What?” she whispered, fearful of what she might say next.

“Keith. He’s alive, but in the ICU at Mass General. He was stabbed as well and they say he’s in critical condition. The police found him bleeding to death in front of your building, but they managed to get him into surgery in time. It’ll be touch and go for a while with him, but they’re saying it’s possible for him to make an almost-full recovery.”

Sylvia found herself unable to reply as tears spilled down her cheeks. She pushed her nails so hard into her palms they bled, but she didn’t feel it. All she could feel was the pain of knowing she was inadvertently involved in Tucker’s death, and Keith was in the ICU, clinging to life.

Lilith waited quietly on the other end of the line for her to respond.

“Why did Keith get stabbed?” she whispered finally.

“The police think it was some sort of drug related crime, since two men were stabbed at that building at the same time, but of course we know that’s not true. I couldn’t tell you exactly why he was there but I have two theories. Either he went there to speak to you, to try to patch things up, or he went there to see if he could stake out the Hunter, to protect you. It doesn’t matter why he was there, really, because no matter the reason, the Hunter saw him, recognized him as an associate of yours, and stabbed him. I just count him lucky he wasn’t killed by that monster like poor Tucker.”

“Lucky,” Sylvia repeated mindlessly. In her eyes Keith was anything but lucky right now.

“So where are you again, exactly?”

“New Hampshire, with Mason, my Innocent,” she answered flatly. Suddenly she didn’t care if Lilith or Elora knew about Mason. It was a pointless Challenge that did nothing but cause bad feelings and hurt for all involved. It seemed like such a trivial thing now, fighting to keep a territory when she could hunt just as easily in a new territory. Tucker was dead, Keith had almost died, and here she was, playing seductress out in the woods to use a man who had been nothing but good to her. It all seemed so disgusting to her now.

“Good. Can you stay there until this all blows over?” Lilith ignored her comment that she had an Innocent. It wasn’t the time to discuss it.

“No, I… we’re guests at a friend’s house for the weekend and we’re leaving later this afternoon.”

“You can’t go home; it’s an official crime scene. I’d offer to let you stay with me but…” Lilith trailed off and Sylvia knew what she wanted to say but wouldn’t. She wasn’t welcome to stay with her because she was afraid that would bring the Hunter to her doorstep. She couldn’t be mad at her for not extending the invitation; she didn’t wish to put anyone else in jeopardy by their mere association with her. Tucker and Keith had already paid the price for helping protect her. She didn’t want any more blood on her hands.

“It’s fine, don’t worry, I’ll think of something,” she lied quickly. She had no idea where she would go. Without any friends, there was no one to impose upon. She might be stuck asking Mason if she could stay with him for a while. So far the Hunter had only attacked succubi and now two incubi. Humans seemed safe from his wrath.

“Stay out of the city, Sylvia. I’ll call you when it’s all over, and it’s safe to come home. If Elora wins your territory, don’t worry about it, we’ll figure something out. I can wire you some money if you need it.”

“Thanks, but I’m all set. I’ll be in touch.” The call ended and she wandered into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, still wrapped in her towel.

Mason found her like that a few minutes later, sitting on the edge of the bed, staring off into space as the tears kept on coming.

“Sylvia! What’s the matter?” He rushed to her side and pulled her close.

“It’s bad, really bad. My… my cousin, and his friend, they were stabbed last night.”

“Your cousin, the one I met last week?”She nodded weakly. “Are they okay?”

“No. No, no one’s okay. Tucker’s dead, and Keith is in the ICU at Mass General.”

“Where did this happen?” He seemed genuinely concerned and wanted to know all the details.

“My apartment building.” It felt like such an effort to talk, to answer his questions. She wanted to just curl up and sleep so it would all go away.

“Your apartment building? Did they at least catch whoever did it?” She shook her head and wiped away some of her tears with the edge of the towel. Mason rose and grabbed the box of tissues off the dresser. He pulled a few out and handed them to her. “Here.”

“Thanks.”

“So what shall we do? If you want to stay for brunch and then head into town we can still do that, but I can take you back to the city shortly, if you prefer. And I don’t think you should go back to your apartment. It’s not safe there, and I’m sure it’s the last place you want to be right now. Where will you go?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered as fresh tears came.

“I do. You’ll come stay with me. I have plenty of room, and while I hadn’t really thought about moving in together anytime in the near future, it seems like it would solve your problem, and mine.”

Sylvia squinted her eyes at him, trying to figure out what she had missed. “Your problem?”

“Yes. I’ve got this big place all to myself, and it’s lonely for me. You come stay with me and you’ll be safe, and I won’t be so lonely anymore.” He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head.

“I couldn’t impose on you like that.”

“It’s not imposing, in fact, I insist.” He stood up, eager to get things in motion. “Come on. You go get dressed, I’ll call over to Marjory and explain what happened. We’ll leave in, say, half an hour? Does that sound good to you? I can even bring you by the hospital to see your cousin if you like.”

Sylvia considered it. Lilith had warned her to stay out of the city, but she had nowhere to stay except with Mason. She couldn’t afford a motel somewhere indefinitely. His house seemed to be the only option, but it required that she return to Boston. It was a risk she was willing to take. She had to go see Keith, even if he wasn’t awake. She couldn’t live with herself until she told him she was sorry for all that had happened. It was something she needed to do, for her own sake, and even the Hunter couldn’t keep her away. He needed her, and Mason was giving her a place to stay, so back to Boston she would go.

~~~

Marjory fussed over them as Jerome loaded their bags back into Mason’s SUV.

“I’m so sorry to hear about your cousin, Sylvia. I saw a bit about it on the morning news, I didn’t know it was your relative. This must be quite a shock to you.” Sylvia nodded. “I do hope you’ll come up here again sometime. You still haven’t seen Peterborough properly or hiked the mountain, maybe in the spring? You can always come up for a weekend this winter and give snow shoeing a try,” she encouraged.

“Perhaps we’ll do that,” Mason interrupted gently. “We’ve got to get going, Marjory, but thank you for a lovely visit, I’m sorry we have to cut it so short.” Marjory hugged him goodbye and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to Sylvia.

“Don’t be a stranger now,” she told her as she hugged her as well.

“Thank you for everything,” she managed to respond softly.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Marjory handed Mason a picnic basket and a large thermos filled with fresh coffee. “Since you two need to rush out of here and didn’t have time for brunch, I had the cook pack you a few things for the ride home. You make sure she eats something,” she instructed Mason, referring to Sylvia. “The poor thing’s had quite a scare and she’s so upset she might forget to eat, so see to it that she does.”

“Of course, Majory, and again, thanks for everything.” He tucked the picnic basket away in the SUV as Sylvia climbed in. He got behind the wheel and pulled slowly down the driveway. In the rearview mirror she could see Marjory waving at them from the house until they were out of sight.

“So how are you doing with all of this?” he asked her a few miles down the road.

She shrugged. “Not good, but okay, I guess. I just don’t feel much like talking right now.”

“Okay, I get that. Do me a favor though, and grab the picnic basket? Marjory’s right, you need to eat something, and I’m a bit hungry myself.” At Mason’s urging she finally agreed to eat a banana. She didn’t want to eat at all, and the various types of pastries the cook had packed along with the fruit were unappetizing to her at the moment. Mason gladly accepted a Danish to go along with his coffee.

It seemed like the ride back to Boston passed far faster than the ride going out to Peterborough. They rode in silence and she appreciated how he was giving her the space she wanted. She dozed lightly in small increments but had trouble staying asleep. There was too much on her mind to make resting a viable option.

Once they made it back to Boston, Mason pulled up in front of Mass General and let Sylvia out.

“I have to run some quick errands, so you just call me when you’re almost finished, and I’ll pick you up right here, okay?”

Sylvia nodded. She stopped crying on their ride back to the city, but she still felt like she might come undone at any minute. It would be a relief to get to Mason’s house to have a chance to sort through all that was going on, but right now she needed to see Keith. She figured she owed him that much at least.

Signs within the hospital led her to the ICU. There were signs in big, bold letters proclaiming ‘Family Members Only’. It wasn’t hard to convince the nurse at the desk that she was Keith’s cousin.

“Go on ahead, room 15a, one of your other cousins is already in there,” she told Sylvia without looking up from the chart she was examining.

Sylvia wondered who Keith’s other visitor was. Perhaps Walter had come to lend his support since the two had been friends for centuries. She stopped short with surprise when she saw the other visitor was not Walter, but Lilith. She sat in a chair next to Keith’s bed.

“I told you to stay out of Boston!” she growled when she spied Sylvia in the doorway.

“I have my reasons for coming back,” she replied without further explanation.

“Your territory? Of all the ridiculous things to put your life on the line for, that’s got to be one of the dumbest.”

“I haven’t anywhere else to go. Besides, I wanted to check in on Keith.” He was hooked up to a variety of machines to monitor his vital signs, and intubated as well. It was hard to believe the Hunter had turned lively, strong Keith into the unresponsive sack of flesh she saw before her.

“He should be fine, but it will take a while. They’ve put him in a medically induced coma for the time being, but they plan to bring him out of it in a few days, when he’s more stable. One of the knife wounds nicked his heart. They had to perform cardiac surgery to save him.”

Sylvia nodded. As scary as it was to see him in a coma in the ICU, she knew it could have been worse. The Hunter could have killed him as well.

“So where will you stay now? I hope you’re not thinking of going back to your apartment.”

“No, I’ll be staying with Mason.”

“Your Innocent?” Sylvia nodded. “You know, I already knew about him, before you told me.”

“Keith told you?” It was water under the bridge now, but Sylvia felt it was a small betrayal on his part.

“No, he didn’t mention it to me, though I figured he knew about him. You were in the paper’s social pages recently, pictured with him, at some sort of art gallery function. I didn’t ask you about it as I figured you’d tell me when you were ready. I am curious, though. Why is he still a virgin, at his age? Do you know?”

“He was originally saving himself for his fiancée, but she was killed unexpectedly and he hasn’t had a relationship since then. Does Elora know about Mason?”

“No, I don’t think so. I certainly didn’t tell her, and she doesn’t strike me as one who reads the paper too often.” Sylvia couldn’t help but smile slightly at her offhand remark about Elora. “Have you made any progress with Mason?”

“Some, but we’re not there yet,” she admitted. “Can we please not talk about this in front of Keith? I know he’s in a coma, but it just feels weird.” Just because her big news was finally out in the open didn’t mean that they had to discuss it in depth at that moment.

Lilith nodded and checked her watch as she rose from her chair to leave. “I have to run back to the office anyway. Have your visit, but I would suggest you don’t stay here long. For all we know the Hunter’s watching to see if you’ll come. You’re already here, but it would be unwise to come again in the future,” she advised as she left the room.

Sylvia sank into the chair Lilith had been using. She grasped one of Keith’s hands in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m here for you, Keith, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry you ever got dragged into this mess, and I’m sorry we couldn’t make it work.” She didn’t know if what some said was true, that patients in a coma could still ‘hear’ those around them, but she hoped so. It was important to her that he knew her regrets. She might not get the chance to tell him again. “I love you, still, but we just can’t make it right. I want you to be happy, and I want to be happy too. We’re not happy together, we’re both miserable. It’s not right for either of us. I just wanted to let you know that despite all of that, I do love you. I always will, nothing could ever change that. You get better now, before we know it you’ll be chasing the ladies again, okay?” She kissed his hand softly and fell quiet, listening to the rhythms of the various machines working to keep him alive.

Lilith was right, it wasn’t the best idea to visit him in case the Hunter was staking the place out, watching for her, but Sylvia was still glad to have done it. She text Mason to let him know she was finishing up her visit and gave Keith a gentle kiss on the forehead before leaving. “Remember, I love you, always, even if we’re not together,” she told him softly.

She was extra vigilant as she made her way through the hospital, just to be on the safe side. Various succubi and Tucker were now dead, and Keith was lucky to be alive. Her fear of the Hunter was swiftly transforming into hatred. If the police couldn’t stop him, perhaps she could figure out a way to get the job done. Enough of her kind had fallen at his hands.