After talking to Jeanette's secretary, I called Luke to see how things were going on his end of the investigation. He didn't have any new details, except that today's paper had the highest circulation numbers that they have had this year, because of the serial killer story. I responded and said that was great and that I hoped the murderer doesn't take the hint and change his style.

Luke just laughed and told me not to worry about it because there was no mention in the story about the organs being missing. He had withheld that information at the request of the police, whom he had called to 'corroborate' the missing organs tip both he and the police had gotten. It was a damn sneaky way to work around his sources and I was grateful for that, since it covered my ass. He also said that he might be nominated for a press award for the most recognized article or something and he thanked me. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have connected the cases at all.

“That's great.” I said and yawned. “I'll talk to you later.” I hung up my cell phone and yawned again. I turned to Natalie and asked her to take me home. I knew it was only the middle of the day; but apparently, I really needed some sleep.

There was a bright flash of light and I looked around for the source of it. All I could see was shadows around me. They had a kind of weight to them, as if they were covering something I shouldn't see. I walked over to the nearest one and tried to put my hand into it. I felt a bitter cold and a sharp pain in my fingers. When I pulled my hand out, it looked like it had aged twenty years!

I clutched the damaged hand to my chest so I could turn and run, then discovered that I was in my wheelchair and I couldn't push both wheels with only one hand to get away. I remembered walking only a second ago and that scared me. In my fright, I slid out of the chair and tried to drag myself away from the darkness that seemed to be alive and chasing me.

I scrambled and clawed my way across the ground in a pitiful attempt to get away, when I heard something. I stopped struggling and listened closely, while the fear and terror I was feeling slowly receded to leave only my curiosity. It was a male voice that I had never heard before, and yet, I recognized it all the same. I didn't know why.

“Mein Kind, es sind eine lange Zeit gewesen.”

“What? What did you say?” I asked, totally confused. They were speaking nonsense and I couldn't make sense of it. I listened closely as the voice said it again and seemed to be closer.

“Mein Kind, es sind eine lange Zeit gewesen.”

I couldn't understand a word of it.

“Who... are you?” I asked and they didn't answer. A moment later, I heard something else.

“Sie verstehen Ihre Wichtigkeit nicht.”

“I don't understand.” I said as I gritted my teeth in frustration. I was getting a little tired of this game and started to get angry. I felt my power flare and I moved one foot, then the other, and pulled my legs up underneath my body.

“Komm zu mir.”

“Alright, that's it.” I said and grabbed a hold of my anger to use as a weapon and I felt my power rise up to the challenge. “I... have had... enough!”

With that last exclamation, I pushed a wave of power out from myself and I stood up on my useless legs. I slashed at the shadows closest to me with my power and shredded them apart, then I heard several screams in return.

“David! DAVID!” Natalie yelled. “Wake UP!”

I opened my eyes to see Natalie, Mikki, their parents Gina and Carl, Nina, and Jeanette as they stared down at me. “Geez, what's so important that you had to wake me up so soon?”

They all looked at each other for a moment and then back down at me.

“So soon?” Mikki chimed in first. “David, you've been asleep for two days.”

“What?!?” I blurted.

“We've been trying to wake you up since Natalie brought you home from the police station.” Mikki said, her voice full of concern.

Jeanette leaned closer. “We've had round the clock sitters for you. This is the first time anyone has gotten you to respond to anything.”

“You're kidding, right?” I asked and looked at them in disbelief. They couldn't be right, could they? I thought as I looked around, then remembered my watch. I picked it up and hit the little button. There was my proof. Two days! I've lost two whole days!

With my dream still fresh in my mind and my power still flowing, I realized I must have been attacked, somehow. I immediately thought that some vampire had invaded my dreams and tried to gain control of me, or at least tried to influence me. My anger wasn't far from the surface of my thoughts, not after that dream, and it flared up and I felt a burst of my power go through the room.

Almost like it had happened in my dream, everyone near me felt it and staggered back from me like they had been hit with a physical blow.

“As God as my witness, I will kill the vampires who just attacked me!”

“No one has attacked you.” Carl said. “You've been here the whole time and no one that you don't know has been in here.”

“I wasn't attacked physically.” I said in exasperation and looked at Jeanette. “In my dream I was being chased by some kind of shadows... or by something inside them.”

Jeanette sighed, because she knew that it was one of a vampire's tactics to attack someone mentally to weaken them. “My darling, it wasn't anyone from my family.”

It was my turn to sigh and my power receded. “I know, Jeanette. I'm sure I would know the difference.”

What I didn't say out loud was that the voice seemed to speak in tongues or something else, or that it seemed very familiar. It took me a few moments to recall what I heard. Now that I was awake and could associate the sounds I had heard with the linguistic part of my brain, it really did sound familiar.

“The voice I heard was speaking German.” I said. I had never learned the language; but, I had heard enough of it to recognize it. I turned to Natalie, who was standing next to me and shaking slightly. “I'm sorry for scaring you.” I said and gave her a hug. “Can you hand me my phone? I need to look some things up.”

“Okay.” Natalie said and gave me a kiss, then walked around the bed to the dresser, picked up the phone and brought it over to me.

Nina stepped forward. “What do you need to look up?” She asked. “After what you just did...”

My power was still flowing under the surface, so I spiked it intentionally and threw it at her. “It's none of your business! I don't have to explain anything to you or anyone else!”

Everyone gave me wide eyes and I realized what I just did.

I took in a long slow breath. What was wrong with me? I asked myself and let the breath out. Lately, I've been on edge and have been biting everyone's head off for little or no provocation. “Look, I'm sorry.” I said and held a hand out to her.

Nina took it without hesitation and my power went from assaulting her to flowing into her. She almost moaned as it filled her up and she knelt in front of me.

“This latest attack has me on pins and needles. I'm a little upset that even though I'm crippled and pretty much useless, I'm still a target for power hungry vampires.” I said and looked at Jeanette. She didn't react like I thought she would. She didn't defend herself or her vampires. At all.

“How do you know it was...” One of the bodyguards at the side of the room started to say.

“If you or anyone else here knows of some other creature that can invade someone's dreams, I'm listening.” I said and no one offered any suggestions, because they knew it was pretty much a vampire's calling card.

After that, the crowd around me had gradually dispersed, after I had apologized a dozen times for worrying them and for my inadvertent power display. Natalie climbed onto the bed with me and cuddled me after she helped me sit up. Mikki sat down on my other side and I cuddled the both of them a little, then I opened a search engine and started to look up what I wanted to know.

It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be to look up the physical writing of the words I heard. The individual meanings of the words were slightly different than the use of the same words in a sentence, which made it that much harder. I had two sets of extra eyes and brains next to me, so I enlisted their aid.

The task went much faster when I relaxed and let them help me. After about an hour of trying to say the words, working out how they should be written, then playing with the syntax and positions of the words in sentences, I believed we had an accurate representation of what I had heard in my dream.

I read it out loud for everyone to hear. “My child, it has been a long time. You do not understand your importance. Join me.”

“Well, I'll be damned. You were right.” Carl said, not really believing it.

“Yeah.” I said. I was right. I thought and shook my head. Sometimes, I really hate being right.

I did not want to go back to sleep after an experience like that, so Natalie had the coffee on a continuous stream to my mouth. God bless her for doing that for me. I had eventually moved from my bed to the couch and everyone went off to get back to their lives, or whatever it was that they normally did.

Natalie handed me another mug, this one with the most appropriate saying. 'So I'm a bitch. Deal with it'. I laughed when I read it and almost spilled some on my lap. She steadied it and my hand for me, gave me a hug, and handed me a couple pieces of paper.

“You've had a few phone calls while you were out.” Natalie said with a sheepish grin.

I grinned back. “Ha, ha, very funny.”

“Most of them were just well wishers, except for Sergeant Sanchez. He said he had read the paper the other day and wondered if you were the anonymous source for the article.”

He's a smart man, that Sanchez. I thought with a smile and took a sip of coffee.

Natalie continued when I didn't comment. “You might like the last one.” She said and tapped the small stack of papers. “Thomas Anders has decided that he wants you to do the job and has already deposited half the money into your account.” She gave me a knowing smile. “I think he thinks you're going to back out on him if he waits too long.”

I barked a laugh at her not too subtle reference to herself and our relationship. “You didn't tell him what was happening to me, did you?”

Natalie shook her head. “The couple of times he called, you were 'currently indisposed' and unable to talk to him.”

“Thanks.” I said and gave her a kiss. “Can you get a hold of Jillian and set up the guards for tonight?”

“Already done. Dad said he was surprised you waited this long.” Natalie said. “They should be here just after the sun sets.”

I put my arm around her and gave her a big kiss, with a little extra tongue action, because she liked that. We broke the kiss when Mikki came into the living room and Natalie giggled and being caught.

“What exactly is going on in here?” Mikki asked with an indignant tone and a huge smile on her face.

“Oh! Ah! Nothing! Absolutely nothing, honey!” I said with mock surprise, then the three of us started laughing.

Mikki came over to the couch and sat down beside me, so I motioned for her to come closer and I gave her the same thing that I had given Natalie. She liked that a lot.

“We're going out tonight. Zombie raising. It's been awhile. Are you coming?” I asked.

Mikki's face fell and looked sad.

“I'll take that as a no.” I said.

“I'm on shift tonight.” Mikki said.

“Me, too.” Natalie said. “We both took the last two days off to be here and we need to make that time up.”

I held in my sigh and nodded understanding. “I'm sorry I'm at fault for that.”

Mikki gave me a kiss to distract me. “It wasn't your fault.”

“Not at all.” Natalie said. “In fact, I'm sure I could quit my job and stay here with you full time.”

_______________

You now have a story altering decision to make. Will you have one of your girls quit her superfluous job and stay at home with you to cuddle and play with, or will you make her go to work and earn a normal wage, even though a single job of yours easily matches her yearly salary?

A) Hold onto her with a tight grip. B) Give her the choice to live how she wants.

What? I can't do both? I asked myself with amusement. Well, damn. Okay. I need to consider... I noticed the timer quickly counting down the seconds. Stupid timer! Okay. I love her and it's not fair for me to choose. It's her choice, so B it is.

_______________

“Bite your tongue.” I said with a chuckle. “You worked hard to get that job and you enjoy it.” I said and gave her a kiss. “I know it doesn't make a lot of money; but, you're independent and you've proven to yourself... and to your parents... that you can handle what life throws at you.”

Natalie gave me a huge smile and another kiss, with more tongue of course. “I love you, David.”

“Thanks for telling me.” I said smugly and her sister Mikki lightly smacked the side of my head.

“Don't be smug about it.” Mikki said with a laugh and looked at Natalie. “We're both proud of you.”

“Thanks.” Natalie said and tapped the papers on my lap. “Nina will be up in a few hours and she'll come here to take you to the cemetery. Mr. Anders will meet you there with his lawyers. He also said something about justifying the expense.” She gave me an inquisitive look. “How much is this job costing him, anyway?”

I whispered the price. I was sure she had heard me, since her hearing was so good; but, I think she was in shock from what I said and couldn't believe it.

“What... what did you say?” Natalie asked.

“A hundred grand.” I said a little louder.

Mikki whistled and Natalie just stared at me with an open mouth.

“David.” Mikki said in a subdued tone. “I don't know a lot about zombie raising things; but, you aren't ripping him off, are you? That's a lot of money.”

I glared at her and my power flared up with my anger.

Mikki felt it and defended herself before I could say anything. “Whoa! Hold on! It was just a question!” She said and put a hand on my face to try and calm me down. “You haven't brought in any money to this house over the last two months. I can't help thinking that you might be overcompensating with this job to make up for it.”

I managed not to sigh as I got a handle on my temper, which took a minute, then I told them the truth. “No one, and I mean no one, can raise a zombie close to three centuries old without a human sacrifice. For some of the people out there, I don't think it would be possible with several human sacrifices, actually. Me? I can do it. I'll need at least a goat, and maybe a cage full of chickens; but, I can do it.”

They both widened their eyes at my words. The confidence I displayed in myself was unlike anything else I had shown them before. I had no doubts, no indecision, and no second guesses. Mikki and Natalie looked at each other, nodded slightly, then they both dropped the subject entirely. They left me alone as they went about their own business of getting ready for their respective jobs.

Nina woke up just after dusk and arrived at the house just before Mikki and Natalie left for work. She bid them a good evening and then helped me get ready. She retrieved my zombie raising gear in the large wooden chest that I kept everything in. I opened it and made sure that I had everything I needed to do the job, just in case. It was always a good idea to make sure that you have the tools you need beforehand.

We all met in the living room at my house. By all I meant my two bodyguards, Jillian and her new partner Carlos, Nina, and myself. Not surprisingly, were-cats weren't that fussy on feeling the whole necromancy vibe and experiencing my powers, first hand. Mikki's bodyguard Charlie was an exception and was disappointed that he was going to miss it.

We didn't have to split up our small group into various cars to make the trek to the cemetery and we all climbed into my jeep. I had to stop at a drive-thru on the way, just because in all the excitement at my place, I completely forgot to eat. The two bodyguards got something as well when I said that it was my treat. Our one car convoy arrived at the cemetery in plenty of time and I saw that there were several cars parked there already.

We had to find a parking spot as close as possible, because I wasn't going to let Nina carry me all the way to the graveyard and then all around the cemetery to the grave site. I mean, I could take some embarrassment, and I will while getting to the grave site... I just didn't want to start out the evening that way. The two bodyguards took up positions on either side of the jeep while Nina got me into the wheelchair.

I took in several breaths to acclimate myself to the sweet smell in the air that I always enjoyed when in a cemetery. “Let's go raise a zombie.”