Beneath the gleaming skyscrapers and picturesque facade of the City of Redemption lies another city; a community of dark and ancient magic populated by creatures of the night.
Cassandra True has discovered that her roommate Cecily has become involved with a vampire. Her attempt to discuss the situation with has gone badly and ended up as a quarrel. Now Cassandra ponders what to do next.
Dark Redemption is an Urban Gothic Fantasy which will be running in weekly installments Wednesday evenings. Previous installments can be found linked at the Dark Redemption Index.
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Chapter 32: Intervention
In Which Miss True enters the lioness’s den
Cassandra intended to speak with Cecily again in the morning, but woke to the sound of Cecily breezing out the door. “I’m off to work, Sandy!” her voice was unnecessarily loud. “That’s what responsible people do! Ta!” Cecily slammed the door on her way out.
Rubbing her temples, Cassandra sat up and squinted at her alarm clock. Damn! How could Cecily be so bright and chipper at this time of the morning? She must have gotten even less sleep than Cassandra did. She dragged herself out of bed and made another cup of coffee.
The more she thought about the peculiar way Cecily reacted to her mention of addiction the night before, the less she liked it. Cecily tended to talk casually about drugs in conversation, but in practice she stuck mostly to alcohol. For her to react so defensively suggested to Cassandra that Cecily had something to hide. “Methinks she doth protest too much,” Cassandra muttered grimly to herself.
The obvious thing to do would be to search her room. Cassandra felt a twinge of guilt over snooping on her roommate, but she told herself this was for Cecily’s own good.
Entering the room, Cassandra was shocked to find it as neat as a pin. Cecily had obviously anticipated her and cleaned it, no doubt to destroy anything incriminating. Had Cecily slept at all last night? Doggedly, Cassandra dug through Cecily’s dresser and looked under her mattress looking for anything to confirm or disprove her suspicions, but found nothing. Even the wastebaskets were empty. Cecily never took out the garbage. Cassandra briefly considered digging through the dumpster in back of their building, but a look at the clock warned her that she didn’t have the time.
“Are you all right?” Saul asked when she came into the newspaper office. “You look beat.”
“I’m okay.” Cassandra dumped the armload of material about the Redemption Culture Claque on her desk and headed straight for the coffee machine. “Didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“That Strephon friend of yours isn’t causing you problems, is he?”
A bit of guilt nibbled at the back of her conscience. Saul had helped her try to research Strephon, and so she really ought to tell him what she’d found out about Strephon. What she suspected, she corrected herself; she didn’t really know anything. And even if she was right about Strephon being part fairy, surely it wasn’t her place to go spreading his secret around. Well, she had told Cecily, but that was different. But did she really owe Strephon any confidence, seeing as he’d been lying to her all this time? Cassandra shook her head. Strephon’s Victorian manners were beginning to rub off on her. No, she needed to talk things over with Strephon first before she told anybody else anything. Not that Saul would believe her.
“Cassandra?”
“Hm? Oh, no. Nothing like that. It’s my roommate, Cecily. I’ve been worried about her.” Could Saul help her with Cecily? No, he probably didn’t believe in vampires. And as for the drugs, he’d probably just tell her to go to the police. She’d already decided that the police would be no help in this situation.
Cassandra turned in her Culture Claque story — at least staying up to wait for Cecily had given her plenty of time to finish it — and tried to concentrate on her next assignment; but her mind kept drifting to the problem of Cecily. What about Strephon? Could he help her? He probably did believe in vampires. At least he’d take her seriously. But Strephon didn’t seem like someone who would know squat about illicit drugs, unless it were absinthe or laudanum or something.
Who else could she turn to? Maybe Grandma Simms. Mrs. Simms had helped Cassandra when she and Strephon had been attacked by wolves, and Cassandra had the impression that she knew a lot about magic. Cassandra made a note to visit the Friendlee-Mart on Fitch Street after work.
What else? Cassandra looked at her notebook, at the scrawl of names, thoughts and queries that she had jotted down as she grappled with her problem. There was one name she hadn’t written, that she had been avoiding.
Kurayami.
If anyone knew anything about vampires at the Club Cyba-Netsu, it would be Ms. Kurayami. And if Cassandra wanted to settle things one way or the other, she would have to go back to the Cyba-Netsu and talk to Kurayami herself.
* * * * *
“There is somebody watching the club from across the street.”
Kurayami looked up from her invoices. “You are sure, Seymour?”
The club’s bouncer nodded curtly. “She’s been sitting at the bus stop for over an hour now. Three buses have gone by and she’s still there.”
“Do you recognize her?”
“Yes. She has been here before. She is Miss Cecily’s friend.”
Kurayami brought her pencil to her lips thoughtfully. “Yes, the reporter. She is also a friend of Mister Bellman.” Seymour stood over her waiting mutely as she considered the matter. “It is a cold, damp night. Invite her in. Politely. Bring her here to my office.”
Seymour nodded again and turned to leave.
“And Seymour,” Kurayami added, “bring her in the side door; not through the club.”
* * * * *
Cassandra had not intended to confront Kurayami this quickly. She had planned to just watch and see when Cecily went in and came out again and maybe get a good look at Phillipe. She’d also hoped that in her overcoat and sunglasses, she’d be nicely inconspicuous. In retrospect, she realized that was a mistake. When the club bouncer came out to her and offered her an umbrella and invited her in, there seemed little point in refusing..
“How pleasant to see you again,” Kurayami said as the bouncer escorted Cassandra into her office. “Do have a seat.”
Cassandra gingerly sat down in the chair the looming bouncer placed for her and accepted the fuzzy navel from the tray he offered, “Thank you,” she said. She felt the same unease as she’d felt when visiting Mrs. Morrigan; the sensation that she was entering a spider’s web. Still, she couldn’t back down now.
Kurayami leaned back in her own chair, behind her immaculate desk. It’s very neatness seemed intimidating. It reminded Cassandra of a formal dinner setting where every plate and utensil was precisely-placed. The only extraneous item she could see was a red glass paperweight looking like a globule of blood, which Kurayami caressed with her fingertip. “You may remove your coat if you like. Please, make yourself comfortable.”
Actually, Cassandra would have felt more comfortable with the coat on, but acceded to Kurayami’s request. She thought she caught the hint of a smirk on Kurayami’s face as she unbuttoned her overcoat and revealed the high-collared blouse she was wearing. It had seemed an obvious precaution at home when she was getting ready to go out; now it seemed childishly futile. The smirk disappeared when Cassandra unbuttoned the coat further, revealing the medallion Grandma Simms had given her.
“Should I be carrying a crucifix?” she had asked Grandma Simms.
“You say your prayers before going to bed every night?”
“Um… well...”
“You go to church every Sunday?”
“Sometimes…”
“A cross can be a powerful symbol of faith, and such things have strength; but it’s not a good luck charm, and it’s no good treating it as one. You can’t impress a vampire by pretending. This might help, though.” Grandma Simms had pressed the medallion into her hands. “ It has spells on it to repel the undead. Might not stop a powerful vampire like Kurayami, but it’ll give her something to think about.”
Kurayami seemed to be thinking now. She gave an annoyed frown and Cassandra thought she heard a sharp intake of breath like a hiss. Kurayami’s glance darted to her sharply. After a longish pause that made Cassandra’s throat feel dry, Kurayami said, “So. That’s how it is.”
Cassandra nodded and hazarded a sip of the fuzzy navel.
“And my I ask you what brings you to my club this evening? You know you are welcome to come inside whenever we are open.”
Cassandra took a deep breath. “I’m sure you remember my friend Cecily. She comes here often. She’s been seeing a lot lately of this guy she met here named Philippe. I don’t think we need to pretend he’s not a vampire.”
There. She’d said it. Cassandra felt her cheeks burn under Kurayami’s relentless gaze. Did that lady ever blink? But at least it was all out in the open.
Kurayami did not respond immediately, as if carefully choosing her words. “Then I think we may speak frankly.”
Again, Cassandra nodded. The sip of alcohol had bolstered her confidence a little, but she didn’t want to drink too much.
“You disapprove of your friend’s' paramour and so you wish to end their relationship, am I correct?” Kurayami continued.
“I’m concerned about Cecily and her safety.”
“Surely, she is the best judge of that, isn’t she?”
“I don’t think she’s entering this relationship entirely of her own free will.”
Kurayami chuckled, as if Cassandra had said something funny. The laugh made Cassandra feel chill, but she pressed on.
“I have reason to believe that she and Philippe have been doing drugs.”
The chuckle ceased. “That is preposterous. I permit no drugs in my establishment.” The warm hospitality had left Kurayami’s voice, replaced by an edge of steel.
“Maybe they’re not doing it here…”
“Where is your proof?”
Cassandra looked away. That was the thing. “It’s mostly a hunch. But I’m pretty sure.”
Kurayami relaxed and the serene smile returned. “Don’t you think you are being a bit presumptuous? Your friend’s romantic affairs are her own business, not yours. You are judging Philippe based on superstition and Hollywood myths. You haven’t even met him. Don’t you think your friend knows his character better than you?”
Cassandra tried not to squirm. What Kurayami said was true; Cassandra had been asking herself the same questions. It was hard not to feel intimidated in her presence, and the sensation of entrapment became more and more palpable. Cassandra felt a strong urge to simply acquiesce and go home. “Perhaps…” she said.
Then she met Kurayami’s basilisk gaze and held it. She knew now what to do. “Perhaps you are right. It’s wrong for me to jump to conclusions like that without getting to know him.”
Cassandra stood up and took another gulp of her fuzzy navel. “Thank you very much, Miss Kurayami; you’ve been very helpful.” She grabbed her overcoat and headed for the door.
“Miss True!”
Kurayami obviously did not consider the interview over yet; but Cassandra had no desire to prolong it. She beat the bouncer to the door, but paused before she left. “And thanks again for the drink.”
She strode briskly out of the office and towards the club floor.
NEXT: Three’s a Crowd
