Bab 9: The case

I closed the folder with the information about the candidates for caporegimes' positions and started massaging my temples. My head hurts as if Rick is near and trying to read my mind again, so I looked around. I'm still on Markus's private floor, and there's no one except me in this rich living room. It was quite large and could easily accommodate all those vampires, who were at yesterday's business meeting, and it seems like even more.

The walls were of a comfortable and relaxing for eyes light-green color, white carpet on the floor, and all the furniture in the room was of a redwood, again. Seems someone is keen on redwood.

I looked around all the furniture in the room, and I'm pretty sure that even if the living room is pretty large, there is not so much furniture, so Markus might prefer a minimalistic style. In the center of the living room were two black sofas standing in front of each other, a coffee table between them, and a fireplace near the sofas. The big windows were covered with black curtains, which were put aside to fill the room with the sunlight. There was also a floor lamp near the sofas, a bookshelf on the other side of the wall, and a lot of paintings of different artists on the free-from furniture walls.

Suddenly, I heard a movement behind my back, which made me turn my head and face a handsome young man with pale skin and golden eyes. He was dressed in a black fitted suit and was standing behind me with a tray in his hands. He came across the sofa and put the tray on the coffee table, near my knees. There was a large cup of coffee and a plate of freshly made pancakes with honey on the tray. I looked up at the man, and he smiled friendly at me.

"Mr. Malone asked to serve you breakfast when you'll awake…" he straightened up and looked at me, slightly smiling.

"Uh… Thank you, but I'm not hungry… Please, leave only a cup of coffee here…" I asked with a slight smile on my lips, then looked back at the two folders on my knees. My heart started beating faster when I saw the second folder full of documents of the psycho-maniac case. I suddenly found out I don't want to investigate it because… It means when that psycho will be in jail, I'll return to the police and will forget about Markus forever. Do I want this? Certainly not, but what about those killed people?

I'm having too many questions in my head recently that make my head hurt, so I should either stop thinking or get some answers at least.

"I'm sorry, Miss Aurora, but if you will not have breakfast, I'll be fired. Please, don't make me lose my job… And I'm not sure that you want me to feed you…" he made a pleading grimace on his face. I rolled my eyes at him.

"What?" I put the folders aside and started massaging my temples again. Everything around makes my head hurt, and it's getting annoying.

"That's one of Mr. Malone's warnings to me if you'll not have your breakfast…" a man said, then looked down at the tray, "So shall I take it away or leave it right here?"

"Leave it here. You can be free, thanks." I didn't even care whether he left or not, I just bent down, took the cup of coffee, and sat straight, then opened the folder with police documents, and started looking through it once again. Something, in this case, makes me doubt, but I don't know what makes me feel like that, and I don't know in what part of the case I have doubts. Everything is too complicated.

"You haven't touched the breakfast?" The cold voice behind my back made me flinch, and almost spill the coffee. I closed the folder, put the cup of coffee back on the table, and turned around to see Marcus. He was in back classic pants, a white shirt and a black tie, and his favorite black leather Bottomline oxford shoes. I looked at his face, then turned back and sighed.

"I'm not hungry, and your chef or waiter isn't guilty. I'm sure they are tasty, so no need to fire him…" I said and took a cup of coffee back into my hands.

"I hear the irritation in your voice…" he sat near me, and took the folder with the police case in his hands, observing it.

"It's not because of you. Those headaches are getting annoying…" I took a sip of coffee, then looked at Markus. I felt an inner feeling I can expose my feelings to him. Furthermore, I felt the need to tell him everything I have in my heart and soul, so I put the cup of coffee back on the table, turned to Markus, and looked into his eyes. He felt my thoroughly look and turned his head in my direction.

"You might have too many questions in your head…" he suddenly said, stroking my chin as if asking me to tell him everything I have on my soul.

"You're right. I don't understand my reactions to the latest news. Two or three days ago, I was thinking I'm a normal human girl working as a police officer. Today I'm a dhampir working as a mafia Underboss undercover. Also, I might have some ability to block others' attempts to read my mind. Ah, and I had sex with a vampire, drank his blood, and felt under his charm and spell…" I stopped for a moment, looking at Markus and waiting for any explanations or answers, but he was silent, so I opened my mouth to continue when he put his thumb on my lips.

"It's a bit of an unusual reaction, yes, but it can only prove that deep in your mind you already had thoughts about being unusual… Or about the supernatural world that might exist for real. So now when it is revealed, your reaction is calm, because you were prepared…" he leaned closer and lightly kissed my lips, "And about the vampire and falling into his charms… I want to hear more…"

I started breathing deeply, feeling my heart go on a race and blood boil in my veins. Likewise, I put my hand on Markus's cheek and started caressing it gently. He liked it.

"Markus…" I whispered, then wrapped his neck and kissed his lips, feeling my heartbeat fasten even more. He hugged my waist and pulled me closer to himself.

"Continue…" he was looking straight into my eyes as if waiting for something and demanding me to continue. I tried to calm down my breath to not have a breathy voice, and he was just waiting patiently with a serious expression on his pretty pale face.

"It's hard to explain, but I definitely fell under your charm…" I blushed, then turned away, being embarrassed, took a cup of coffee and started making slow sips, covering my face under it. He chuckled, then stood up and went closer to the window, looking at the outside, and hiding from the sunlight under the curtain.

"You have time. No need to be in a hurry…" he put his hands in his pockets, looking to the outside and probably thinking about something, while I was drinking coffee and thinking about other questions, I have in my head. He interrupted my flow of mental tortures with his low velvet voice, "If you have any other questions in your head, tell them now…"

"…or remain silent forever?" I giggled, then cleared my throat, "Actually, I have some doubts in that psycho case, but I can't explain which ones. It's just… Strange…"

"Any details?" he turned to me, and I put the cup aside, put the folder on the coffee table, and asked him to come closer. He sat near me looking at the folder, so I opened it and took out all the photos of the victims. It was twelve of them, six female kids and six female adults. Markus took them from my hands and started looking at them closely.

"All the females, either kids or adults, look a bit of like… Me?" I asked, looking at Markus. He frowned, looking over all of them, then put the photos back on the table.

"I see." He was short in words, as always, but he might have had deep thoughts due to his facial expression.

"Even, if to take it as a coincidence, and to sign it to one of the maniac's inverted desires, there are other strange things I was saying to the boss, but he kept silent. All the criminal places where the victims were killed and raped, were too clear, and the blood was poured on the floor like someone prepared the murder scene for a movie. And all the pieces of evidence from all bodies were the same unknown fingerprints on the neck and thighs, cigarettes near all the victims' feet, and marks on their necks from sucking their blood. The picture is exactly the same in all twelve murders…" I stopped for a moment, looking at the mess I created on the table by showing the pieces of evidence and proving my words. He was looking carefully at all the mess and thinking thoroughly, then his phone vibrated, he took it, turned on the loudspeaker, so I could hear it too, and continued looking at shreds of evidence on the table.

"Mr. Malone, you asked to remember about the meeting with the mafia bosses in the nightclub, that will start in half an hour…" I heard the voice on the other side, and it reminded me of the same man who could read minds, Rick.

"Thanks, Rick. I'll drive on my own, ask the guard to be ready in five minutes…" he said, then looked at me, while turning off the call, "Take that folder with you, and get ready, there's not so much time left".

He looked over me, then stood up and started helping me to bring the folder to the previous ordered position, then took it in his hands and looked at his watch.

"I'll be quick!" I promised and ran to my bedroom.

"I'm waiting outside, in a car…" were the last words I heard before running out of the room.

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Pilih

KIRIM HADIAH

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Bab 10: The Mafia Meeting

The car stopped near the nightclub, where we spent our first night with Markus a few days ago. It made me go deep into those memories, my heartbeat fastened, and blood boil in my veins, making me blush. Markus noticed the change in my mood but hasn't said even a word. He kept calm but took my hand, which made me flinch and look at him.

"Are you scared?" he asked with his low voice, looking at me with his onyx eyes.

"Not really. I was just deep in the memories…," I lowered my eyes, blushing harder. He chuckled, kissed my hand, then looked at his watch.

"Time…" he let go of my hand, went out of the car, opened my door in a second, and held me in his hand. I went out of the car, squeezing his hand and noticing a few bodyguards behind and near him. This place seems to be more protected than the previous time, or I just haven't noticed those big guys in black suits and with guns on their hips. I stood straight, then Markus closed the door and wrapped my waist with one hand, while his other one was in his pocket. We went inside the nightclub, then to the staircase near the bar counter, and straight to the second floor. Markus stopped near four bodyguards and looked in their eyes one by one as if they had some scanning mechanism inside their eyes. And probably, they had, because in a few seconds they lowered their eyes, and opened a black door in front of us, letting us enter.

As soon as the door was closed behind us, I looked around. It was a long hall with a red carpet on the floor, walls with golden fretwork, and red curtains on the window at the end of the corridor. Only three black doors were leading somewhere, but one of them had a notice about that door being close, so I thought it could be an emergency way out. The other two doors were on the opposite sides of the wall in front of us, and Markus guided me to the right one, and let me in.

I happened in a room with black velvet walls, four red leather sofas forming a square, a black marble table inside the square, and floor lamps in the corners. Markus showed me where to sit, we took our place close to each other, and he bent closer to the table to shake hands with other participants of the meetings. I could see their pale skin, and bloody eyes, and could smell fresh human blood in the glasses on the table. Markus probably informed them who I am, or it was just a tradition I never knew about.

"Nice to see you right in time, Markus. As punctual as always…" said a tall man with a silver bunch on his head, pale skin, and bloody eyes, dressed in a black suit with a white tie. He had a glass with blood in his hands, and there were a few droplets of blood on his lips. Markus bowed his head.

"Time is limited, even if you're immortal…" He stood up, took a glass of blood, and his gesture made all the other vampires straighten up in their seats. "Today, there is a new, very interesting, and unusual personality in our ranks, my Underboss, Aurora. She is a dhampir."

He turned to me, then leaned down, took a glass of blood, gave it to me with a slight smile on his lips, turned around, and took a sip of blood from his glass. Other vampires did the same, and I followed their tradition. It tasted different from his blood. I suppose it was human blood, considering the smell, but I can't say I had a disgust or something like that. It was just unusual however, even taking a few sips I felt my throat warming up and my body absorbing power and life sources from that blood. Probably, if I will drink more blood, my dhampir abilities will grow up and become stronger.

My thoughts were interrupted by a gentle touch, so I tilt my head up and looked at Markus. He was looking into my eyes, but I couldn't read his expression. He was telling me something, giving a hint, but I can't understand which one.

His hand moved to my arm, and he took me up in one elegant but fast move. I'm not even sure others noticed his move. They probably thought I stood up on my own.

He cleared his throat and all the vampires looked at me. I cleared my throat too and squeezed the glass of blood in my hands.

"I'm honored to be in that position, and I will do my best, to not disappoint Mr. Malone and to not let him fall, in your eyes because of my actions". I said the first thing that happened to be on my mind, and quickly took a sip of blood to hide my embarrassment.

"I'm not even afraid," Markus said to support me, then took a sip of blood from his glass and sat down. I followed him and tried to relax, however, I still felt my fast heartbeat and frequent breath. The speech I said a few moments before made me worry, and it caused my blood to boil in my veins, spreading my human scent in a room full of vampires. I know all of them had human blood in their glasses, but who can guarantee they will not want more and not attack me? I sighed deeply, trying to calm down.

A muscled male hand laid on my gentle half-bare waist because of the cut of the dress, and his cold fingers touched my hot skin. It meant to calm me down and seems it worked. It was a relief probably to not only me but to all the vampires in the room, however.

I felt someone sniffing my scent not so far away from me, and it wasn't Markus. I slightly turned my head to face big bloody and hungry eyes looking at me. Furthermore, I screamed and jumped from the sofa to protect my life. That vampire jumped after me, but I was protected by a male back. I noticed white bleach hair moving to the side because of a fast change of position. I felt my body tremble, so I hugged Markus tightly without even the slightest thought of what others will think. He wasn't against it.

I took all my pride and looked up from his shoulders, seeing him squeezing the neck of the vampire who wanted to attack me. That one was struggling to free himself, but Markus was against that. I felt his body burning and saw spurs of flame coming from his hand to the neck of the vampire. It was a real fire!

"Markus no!" I whispered for only him to hear that, and the fire stopped on the tips of his fingers. One fast move and my offender hit the wall with his back, slipped down to the floor and something fell on his chest. It was a plastic bag with something like blood inside, probably thrown at him to calm down his thirst. Markus quickly turned around and hugged my waist, pressing me towards his body.

"I will let no one even touch her…" he said through clenched teeth, then added, "We're leaving."

"Markus, no! Calm down… It will never happen again, I promise. No one even will touch your girl in these walls, or I'll kill him on my own!" The man standing in front of us on the other side of the table almost yelled these words, so the walls repeated them a few times back. Markus looked down at me as if I should say, either we stay or not.

I straightened up and looked deep into his onyx eyes. He was calm and cold, but deep in his soul, he was worried.

"Let's stay. We shouldn't cancel the meeting because of me…"

"Your safety is much more important than any other damn meeting," he sat down with these words, put me on his knees, and hugged my waist. I was in a protective cocoon of his hands. It made me blush. They will expose us!

"I can sit on the other side near you…" I turned to Markus.

"No." His voice was cold, and his onyx eyes were cold as well, but he wasn't looking at me. I turned around. He was looking at the same man who promised I will be safe. "What's the matter of this meeting?"

"I understand your irritation, Markus, and I promise we'll fix that issue at the next meeting…" A man with a silver bunch on his head stood up, squeezing a glass of blood, took a sip, and turned around. I noticed a big screen behind him when he took a remote and turned it on, continuing his speech while showing us a photo of some building with a big drop of blood on its top. It was like a sign. "At one of the bloody banks, that is under my protection, was caught a team who seem to plan sabotage or attack on that bank. You can see three women who were caught stealing bloody packs on the screen. They are in our jail now. We're planning to interrogate them and…"

"Unbelievable…" I didn't even notice I said it aloud. I was looking at three women on the screen. They were victims of the psycho-maniac and considered to be dead. I saw their corpses! They were buried!

"Any problems?" a man with a silver bunch said, looking at me. I turned to Markus.

"They should be dead! I saw their corpses, Markus. I saw them! They were buried!" he opened his eyes and looked at the screen, then at me, then again at the screen. He frowned.

"I see…" he took from somewhere police psycho-maniac case folder and threw it on the table. Accidentally or not, photos of those three women fell out of the folder to the table. "It's a police case about that maniac, we talked about the last meeting. Aurora is the police detective. Undercover…"

"Police detective undercover?" asked another man sitting in front of us, then slowly stood up and opened his mouth to say something, but from Markus's look, he sat down and closed his mouth immediately.

"Aurora was sent to the police to investigate the case from the inside. I suspected we had a police spy in our ranks, and that case was meant to distract us from something more important, so I used her to know more…" Markus moved his eyes from that man to the screen, "All three women on the screen were the first three victims of the maniac. They were considered to be raped and killed, then buried in the cemetery by police…"

Markus said everything in such deep detail, I believed his every word. Who knows, maybe it's true? Maybe the mafia used me and wiped my memories, so I don't remember it?