Midnight Shadows
Chapter Six: Breaking the News
BY: Tammy

Disclaimer: Anita, Dolph, Jean-Claude, Jason, Asher, Zerbrowski, and any other recognizable characters belong to Laurell K. Hamilton. I’m borrowing them. This was written purely for entertainment and not monetary gain. Cara, Calin, Tanon, the Queen, and Dr. Zimmerman belong to me.

Author’s Note: This story is told from Anita’s and Cara’s view points. They alternate back and forth from chapter to chapter.

Cara’s P.O.V.

Anita came back into the room alone. She looked serious. I wondered where Dolph had gone. She walked back up to the bed and her jacket opened enough for me to see she was carrying something in a harness under her left arm. I didn’t recognize the object and wondered if it was what she had been reaching for earlier.

“Okay Cara, here’s the deal,” she began. “I’m worried that the vampire that bit you might have contaminated you. If he did, he would be able to control you.”

I was completely taken aback by what she said. Control me? I’m the most powerful Shalandar among my people. No one has ever been able to control my mind, not even when I was a young child.

“That’s not possible,” I said. “No one can control my mind, it’s too strong and I’ve been trained to resist such things most of my life.”

“I don’t know what you are so I can’t agree or disagree with you. But I do know vampires. You are incredibly powerful. To be able to control that kind of power would be irresistible to a master vampire. We don’t know if the one that bit is a master or not. He didn’t bite you until you were unconscious. Can you be absolutely positive he didn’t invade your mind?”

She was looking at me so intently. She believed every word she said and she was trying to convince me or maybe just scare me. I knew my shields couldn’t be breached but I had the feeling that I’d never convince her of that.

“Can I be positive? No, I can’t. Nothing is absolute. But I know my mind and I think I would feel it if anything had invaded it,” I answered her cautiously.

“Even if what invaded it is literally dead to the world until nightfall?”

“What do you mean dead until nightfall?”

“Vampires are the living dead. During daylight hours they are corpses. At dusk some power animates them. They survive on blood. It sustains them. A master has even more abilities. Contaminating and controlling another creature is one of them,” she explained.

At this point I began to feel very uneasy. If the creature was dead during the day, I might not be able to feel it. My connections were always to other living creatures. I doubted I could sense anything dead. I’d never imagined there could be such a thing as the living dead. How could that be possible? I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know.

“What do you suggest? I am most certainly powerful and I will not be subject to any other. Especially not something as evil as this vampire you describe.”

She gave me an odd look that I didn’t understand and I chose to ignore for the moment. The answer to my question was more important.

“I want to take you to see the Master of the City.”

“Who is that?” It sounded like it was the ruler of this land.

“Jean-Claude is the Master of St. Louis. He’s in charge of all the vampires in the area. He should be able to tell if another vampire has contaminated you. If you are contaminated, there are some unpleasant steps we’ll have to take. If you’re not, you’ll heal from this attack and go on with your life.”

“Is he also a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“You want to take me to see a vampire! How do you know he wasn’t the one who attacked me? He’s in charge? How could he let something go around attacking people?” My questions were pouring out along with my outrage. I’d been bitten and she wanted to take me near one of these monsters!

Despite my anger and fear I was still listening to her. “Jean-Claude is not responsible for your attack, I know that for certain. Nor would he allow his vamps to attack citizens. It’s a death penalty for the vamp responsible. I think the one who attacked you is a rogue, probably new in town and unknown to Jean-Claude,” Anita told me.

She was hiding something from me. Her shields were very good but I could still get a sense of what she was feeling. “You’re not telling me everything.” I made it a statement.

Her eyes were penetrating, like she didn’t expect me to be able to tell she was withholding information. “You’re right, I’m not. I’m telling you what you need to know at this point, which is that I need to take you to the Circus and have Jean-Claude take a look at you. If you’re contaminated I’ll tell you more then.” Her voice was low and quiet. I looked into her eyes and had a feeling that nothing I said was going to drag anymore information out of her.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to trust these humans. At home humans were not to be trusted at all. They were greedy and destructive creatures. However, given that I was undeniably bitten and I needed to know if my mind had been invaded I really didn’t have much of a choice.

“All right, I’ll go with you,” I said reluctantly. “You’re absolutely sure this Jean-Claude will be able to tell?”

“No, I’m not sure, but he’s the most likely to be able to.”

I looked out the window at the early afternoon sky and had a thought. “I thought you said that vampires were dead until nightfall. How can he see me until then?”

“Jean-Claude is an old master. As long as he’s underground and protected, he’ll rise in the early afternoon.”

“How do we know the one who bit me can’t do the same?”

“We don’t.”

I know I looked at her in alarm. I decided right then and there I wanted to go home.

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