Page 40 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

Stan’s skin was unnaturally pale and he was visibly thinner. His cheeks were sunken and I could count his ribs.

‘I’ll call the ambulance.’ I pulled out my phone and dialled. With that sorted, I started moving the rubble so that the medical team could reach Stan a little more easily. It wouldn’t be easy to get him out with all the detritus underfoot.

‘How’s Sigrid?’ I asked. ‘Is she like this?’ I gestured to Stan.

‘She didn’t burn as much energy by shifting and going berserk – but honestly? She looks like she’s laid low. They’re all still very sick,’ Anissa said sombrely. ‘And unlike Stan, she doesn’t have any extra healing skills in her back pocket.’

I felt sick thinking about it. If we hadn’t found that plant, would they have made it? We needed to find that damned curser and stop them from doing this to anyone else.

‘How much of the plant did you use?’ I asked. I didn’t want to go beyond the barrier again any time soon.

‘Most of it,’ she admitted. ‘We probably have enough for one or two more doses.’

Connor and I exchanged glances; we were both thinking the same thing: if more than two more people were cursed, they would probably die.

Chapter 25

Connor took Mum home and Anissa went with an unconscious Stan back to the hospital. I was left to pick up the pieces at the office.

I looked around in despair before shoving the feeling down. Despair achieved nothing but atrophy; I’d feel better after I’d made inroads into this mess. I needed a shovel and a commercial bin not a few flimsy rubbish bags, but they were all I had so I started to work.

Connor was smarter. After he’d settled Mum, he came back with several commercial waste bags and a shovel. I held the bags as he shovelled broken ceiling tiles and computer pieces into them. We filled six bags and stacked the rest of the rubble – the broken counter and desks – against a wall. There was only one office chair that wasn’t broken, the one that Mum had sat in to recover.

The only other thing that wasn’t broken was the office phone. I stared at it: it should have been destroyed, too, but it had survived against all odds. In honour of Tom Hank’s film Castaway, I dubbed it Wilson.

When we were done, we were in an empty room with a line of dented file cabinets, one chair and Wilson. Wouldn't Gunnar, Sidnee and April be surprised?

The file cabinets, although they only looked a little dented, were actually totally fucked. The drawers had jammed and I had to use vampire strength to force them open. After that, I couldn’t close them again. Excellent.

Connor used one of Gunnar’s many pre-cut pieces of wood to board up the front door, so at least the office was secure even if it was in tatters. Luckily the side rooms, interview rooms and the jail were all untouched, though Gunnar’s office was now the only functioning office space. Regardless, I felt like we were lucky that somewhere in Stan’s affected brain he’d associated this place with safety and not gone somewhere public where people could have been hurt. This was all stuff; although it would be expensive to replace, no one was hurt. We really had been lucky.

Even with all our hard work, the main room looked shambolic. Connor pulled me down with him into the single remaining chair and we sat in the moonlight – Stan had destroyed all the lighting. He kissed my neck. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve already informed the council and funds will be released to get this fixed. I’ve got Margrave ordering new furniture and computers. Anyway, it will give us a chance to update the system.’

Some of my stress dropped away. He was a godsend. ‘Thank you so much.’

‘You’re welcome.’

The phone rang loudly. ‘At least Wilson is okay,’ I said as I answered the call. It was someone complaining about a noise disturbance. I told them that we were short staffed and to use earplugs. Policing at its finest. I hung up.

‘Wilson?’ Connor asked curiously.

‘You ever see that Tom Hanks’ film Castaway?’

He grinned. ‘You named the phone after his volleyball?’

‘Yep. It was a real survivor.’

His grin widened. ‘Wilson dies in the end.’

‘Well, yeah, but Tom Hank’s character was named Chuck and I think that would cause confusion. If I yelled “Chuck” in the office, Sidnee would start lobbing things at me.’

He burst out laughing.

‘You’ve got to think these things through,’ I tapped my head. ‘No grass growing here.’ I let my bout of whimsy fall away. ‘We should check on Sig and Stan.’ I did want to see them but I was bone tired.

‘Yeah, but it’s very late even for vampires.’

He was right. ‘I need to check on my mum, too.’

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