Bound to You

“What do you mean, we can’t run the story anymore?” Nicole Dekker asked the head of police, Jurgen Michaels, who stood stoutly in front of her with a stern expression on his weathered face. He pushed his glasses up his nose a little bit so that they weren’t sliding off before looking her straight in her eyes again.

“News coverage of this psychopath—or psychopaths, depending on how many there are of them—will only encourage more violence. It will impede our investigation.”

“The public deserves to know what’s out there!” Nicole yelled at him, throwing her hands angrily in the air. “They need to know about the dangers of—“

“Don’t lecture me about the dangers of this serial killer, Ms. Dekker.” He told her, his voice lowering a few decibels. “I know them better than any other person in this city, and I’ll be damned if you help him become a sick sort of celebrity.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.” Nicole told him, pushing a hand over her hair, which was tied in a neat and tidy bun at the nape of her neck, not a strand out of place. The police chief narrowed his eyes at her.

“Just who is your ‘source’ anyway, Ms. Dekker?” He asked her after a few seconds. “Who’s been feeding you the information? I somehow can’t see you going out into the gritty streets of Los Angeles to find a story like this.”

Nicole glared at him before turning away from him, sitting in the comfortable chair in front of her desk, which was covered in sheaves of notes about the case. She grabbed them quickly, not wanting Michaels to see any of her information. She had been warned by Castro not to expose any of the information to the police until he told her to, or she’d face consequences. He had been vague when he’d threatened her, but she knew that the man wasn’t joking. He was sick, whoever he was, and he would have no qualms about killing her.

“I’m protected under the first amendment, Chief Michaels. I don’t have to tell you anything about my sources.” Nicole told him, keeping her head held high. Michaels smirked at her and made a slight tsk-tsk sound with his tongue.

“That’s a shame, Ms.Dekker. You know I can get any judge in the city to give me a subpoena requiring you to tell me. You might as well make it easy on yourself.”

Nicole glared at him. One thing she had never taken lightly was threats on her rights as a journalist; she wouldn’t put up with Michaels’ games. “I suggest you find a judge then, Chief. Because I’m not telling you that information.”

“I will find out, Dekker.” He said simply as he walked out of the office, his boots making a loud thudding sound as he exited. Nicole sighed and covered her face with her hands. She couldn’t help but wonder when her life as a journalist had gotten so dangerous and complicated. It hadn’t been too long ago when the only stories she’d covered were the ones presented to her every night by other reporters who’d gone and gathered the information for her. Now, she was the one digging up the dirt, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Suddenly, she heard a beeping sound coming from her computer screen and she looked at it, seeing the icon for her email inbox blinking, signaling that she’d gotten a new message. Assuming it was just one of her co-workers wondering what the commotion had been with Chief Michaels, she clicked on it. Her eyes widened when she saw that it instead came from Sean Castro. She clicked the message and read the words silently to herself.

You continuously tell me time and time again that you want to see me in person. Congratulations, Ms. Dekker. I will be in the abandoned warehouse on the corner of Alondra Blvd. and Willowbrook Ave. at midnight. Be there. I have evidence I’m sure you’re just dying to get a bite of.

As she read the words, Nicole’s blood ran cold. It was true that she’d been insisting that she meet Castro, but she had wanted to do it on her terms, somewhere safe where there were other people. She had no doubts that if she went tonight, something bad was going to happen. She also knew, however, that if Castro had gotten her email address, he also knew where she lived, and that he wouldn’t hesitate to go there to see her. She’d asked for it, and now he was giving it to her whether or not she wanted to meet him. She only hoped she’d walk away with her life.

-x-

“Are they going to make it okay?” Eliza asked Zack sometime later the next day. Since they’d left the mansion, time had blurred together, and she had no idea what time it actually was; whether it was day or night, she didn’t know. They were somewhere underground, that was the only thing she knew for now. She knew Zack wasn’t telling her what was going on to keep her safe, though, so she wasn’t too bothered by it. She was referring to Jimmy, Johnny, and Leigh, who had all been injured in the blast that had leveled half of the mansion. She knew Leigh wasn’t expected to make it through, but no one had told her anything about Johnny or Jimmy.

Zack sighed and looked at her, the bags under his eyes an indication of how exhausted he was. She knew he was running on literally no sleep; he’d been on the go constantly since they’d moved the day before. It worried her to see him like this, but she knew he wouldn’t appreciate her concern being vocalized. So instead of asking about him, she asked about the others to take both of their minds off of what had happened.

“I don’t know, Eliza.” He said softly. “I just don’t know. Val’s in there with them right now, but she’s not a trained nurse. Fuck, none of us is. We have no idea if they have internal injuries, or if it’s all just flesh wounds. Jimmy’s awake and somewhat communicative, but Johnny is still out cold.”

“And Leigh?” Eliza pressed. Zack’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Leigh’s name, but she realized it wasn’t out of dislike for the girl. It was frustration at her condition, and what had happened.

“She probably won’t make it. She got hit the hardest, since she’s…human.” Zack said quietly. “Three of her ribs are definitely broken, along with her leg. She’s got massive flesh wounds, and she told Val before she passed out that it hurt to breathe. Val thinks she might have a collapsed lung.”

“Is there any way we can get her to a hospital?” Eliza asked Zack, who shook his head immediately.

“I wish we could, but no. We can’t. I’m sure Sean has people monitoring incoming patients at any hospital within the near vicinity, and we can’t risk him finding us again. We’re spread too thin right now as it is; we’re vulnerable, and he knows it. If he happened to know that Leigh is with us, which I’m sure he does, he would use her to get to us.”

“So if she dies…” Eliza started, letting her words trail off. Zack met her gaze, touching the side of her face lightly.

“Then it will be regrettable. Despite her annoying tendencies, she’s not a bad girl for Johnny. She would be missed. Let’s just hope she can pull through this.”

“Where are we at?” Eliza asked him. Again, Zack shook his head, telling her silently that he couldn’t tell her where they were. She understood, in a way. In not knowing where they were, she was being kept safe. The less she knew the safer she was, and she realized it.

She watched him walk away from her and sat down on one of the small, uncomfortable couches that was present in the cold room, taking in her surroundings for the first time.

The room itself was very large, with no walls separating the space into separate rooms. The walls were built of cement that was stained with age, the floor hard, compacted dirt. There were no windows, and the only entrance was a small metal door on the far end of the room. Someone Eliza didn’t recognize was standing in front of the door with a gun, obviously guarding it from anyone leaving or entering without proper clearance first.

Further away from her, on the furthest wall opposite of the door, were two rows of narrow cots, each with a green fleece army blanket and one small, thin pillow. There were more cots than were needed for the group, but she remembered hearing Zack say something about Jacoby and the guys coming, as well as someone else named Joel that she had never met.

Other than that, there wasn’t much in the room. There were three couches in the small area where she was sitting, though they were only two-seaters and rather uncomfortable. There was a small fridge that looked as though it were manufactured in the 1940s along the wall, along with a small section of counters and an old stove. The only bathroom in the room had no shower, only a toilet rimmed with years of grit and dirt that was made semi-private by two dark curtains placed in front of it and on the side, blocking it off from view. Other than those few items, there was little else in the room. Zack had brought a radio system with him for communicating with other vampires whom he was expecting to help with his plan, and a laptop computer that Brian was using to run a very crude system of security, watching constant surveillance footage from the only security camera placed somewhere on the outside of the building. Eliza was too busy thinking of everything that was happening that she didn’t notice Val sit next to her.

“Hey.” The blonde woman said to her, a very small smile on her face as she looked over at Eliza. She looked back, pulled out of her thoughts, and returned the smile.

“Hi.” She replied shortly.

“Look, I know you’re confused. Hell, we all are.” Val sighed, looking down at the floor and folding her hands in her lap. “But the important thing is that we’re all alive right now. Zack and the others will make sure everyone stays safe.”

“I know he will.” Eliza smiled at Val. “He always does.”

“And Jimmy and Johnny are both going to pull through. I know they will.” Val told her. “Jimmy’s too strong-willed to let himself die, and Johnny…Well, he’s got the heart of a lion even though he doesn’t show it. He’ll make it, Eliza. They both will.”

“And Leigh?” Eliza questioned, looking back at Val. “Will she live?”

Val sighed, shrugging. “I hope so. Johnny really cares about her, and she’s somewhat of a friend to me now, too. I know Leana has become a friend of hers as well.”

“But…” Eliza started, knowing that Val was rambling to avoid answering her question. Val looked at her, this time something troubling in her eyes.

“But, she’s human. Her internal systems can only handle so much, and…And she’s pretty banged up, Eliza. I’m sure Zack told you some of her injuries…But I also know he probably didn’t tell you the full extent of them. They’re bad. Real bad. I don’t know if she could pull through even if she wanted to right now. She’s lost a lot of blood.”

“Val?” Matt’s voice asked from somewhere else in the room. Val looked up and saw him standing by the area of bunks that had been blockaded off by curtains, blocking them from view of everyone else in the room. It was where Leigh, Jimmy, and Johnny were at.

“Yes?”

“I think…Just…Can you come here?” He asked her, looking back into the area of bunks before looking back at Val. “It’s Leigh. She…She woke up, and needs to talk to you.”