Blood Fury - Part 16

Lestrade POV

"Come on Sherlock, where are you?"
I glanced at my watch. He was a minute late. I tapped my foot impatiently. I shouldn't have been freaking out. But I did. I do it too much. Probably not a good thing. I watched the top of the sun's rays seep over the horizon. Dawn. Beautiful. I wrapped my coat around myself. Beautiful but cold. I shivered. I could see my breath. I checked my watch again. Hope he didn't stood me up, I thought, I'm freezing my arse off here.
"I had received your text. What is it?"
I almost jumped out of my skin and spun around. Sherlock had clearly just gotten out of bed. He didn't even put his scarf on, not that he needed it. Bloody vampires don't feel the cold. Sure we wolves keep ourselves moderately warm, but this is England, it's always so fucking cold. And stupid Sherlock. Even with my highly tuned ears I still couldn't hear his footsteps. Vampires are too silent, they're like cats. It's annoying.
"Hello to you too Sherlock. I'm fine, thanks for asking," I replied.
"You said it was extremely important," Sherlock frowned.
"Yeah, follow me," I replied. Sherlock followed me down the alleyways. We were on the outskirts of London, in an infamous area. We stopped in front of a small wooden door. I knocked on it three times. I heard bolts sliding and unlocking noises. The door opened. A dark gypsy woman stood in the doorway.
"Lestrade, back so soon?" she smiled.
"Cuban, interesting," Sherlock said.
"Can we come in Aurora?" I asked.
"Sure, sure," Aurora stood aside. We hurried in. She bolted the door behind us. We were in a small lounge room. The dark brown lounge had seen better days.
"Aurora, unusual name," Sherlock said.
"I'm an unusual person," Aurora smiled. Sherlock raised an eyebrow. "I recognized you from the papers. And Lestrade has told me things about you. One of the last vampires I see."
"Oh?" Sherlock said.
"Don't tell me you haven't figured out what I am yet," Aurora grinned. Sherlock's eyes darted over her. He picked up in the feathers; the feathers in her headband, the feathers dangling from her belt, the feather tattoo on her right arm.
"Siren," Sherlock smiled.
"Give me the man a prize!" Aurora laughed.
"Why are we amongst these people Lestrade? Why are me here?" Sherlock frowned at me.
"Sherlock, I'm part of these people. And we're here because Aurora has a way of catching that vampire," I answered. Curiosity washed over Sherlock. I nodded to Aurora. We followed her through some beaded curtains and into a large library. It spanned through several vast rooms. Sherlock was in awe.
"Here there are books going back millennia about anything and everything supernatural," Aurora said.
"You see Sherlock, you have your people and I have mine," I smiled.
"I am impressed," Sherlock grinned, "Why have you not told me of this place before?"
"Because we had no need for it. This place is top secret. The only reason I know of it was because my mind led me here," I replied.
"Understood. Aurora, you have a way of catching a vampire?" Sherlock asked.
"Not exactly…" Aurora replied. She grabbed a large book from a stack on a table and opened it. It was old and falling apart. The paper was papyrus and strange words were written on it. Aurora flipped a few pages. "Ah-ha! Here it is! There is this gem, Malculous, which can be used in a spell to find a blood drinking creature of the night."
"So where can we find this gem?" Sherlock asked.
"Difficult to find. But I have located one not to far from here. In the forest by the old wolf caves," Aurora answered
"Great let's go," Sherlock said.
"Not yet. There is a problem. Only a creature of pure blood who has not been scared by the truth can place their hands on it whilst the darkness covers the sky," Aurora replied.
"Which means?" I asked.
"Only a human who does not know of the supernatural world can touch it. And it can be only touched at night, otherwise they'll drop dead," Aurora answered.
"Shit," I frowned.
"Agreed," Sherlock said, "Couldn't you send one of your men? No, don't answer that. They'll get suspicious."
"No shit Sherlock," I said.
"What about John?" Aurora suggested.
"How do you know of John?" Sherlock asked.
"What? You think Lestrade isn't the only psychic in the room?" Aurora smiled.
"Well, you're better than him," Sherlock grinned, "All he can do is see ghosts and the past."
"Fuck you Sherlock," I frowned. Sherlock chuckled. Smug bastard.
"But what about John?" Aurora said.
"No, too dangerous," Sherlock shook his head.
"It won't be. I'll watch over him," I said.
"No, too conspicuous," Sherlock replied.
"I'll hide back in wolf form," I said.
"You've forgotten haven't you? There's going to be a Blue Moon," Sherlock said.
"We'll send him out after that," I replied.
"No we need the gem now, before the vampire learns of it," Sherlock said.
"Sherlock, I'm a full grown wolf. I can resist from the moon," I said.
"Then it's decided! John will go out looking for the gem tomorrow night," Aurora slammed the book shut. Dust flew up into the air. I sneezed. Aurora placed the book back on top of the stack. "Hope you catch him, the killer."
"Don't we all," Sherlock said.
"I saw him you know," Aurora said.
"Excuse me?" Sherlock asked.
"That girl that was with the boy, this is her," I replied.
"Of course I should've seen it!" Sherlock cried out.
"Anthony was a dear friend of mine," Aurora said, "He was human. He lived in that shitty neighbourhood. He had a Labrador. Cute thing. Anthony told me about this warehouse and how it was supposedly haunted. He wanted me to have a look and lay the spirits to rest. So I went with him to this warehouse. It was late at night, who knows what time. We walked in. I could certainly sense something, but it wasn't ghosts. Then this thing jumped out of nowhere and attacked us. I-I don't know what it looked like, but it was certainly a vampire. Scarlet eyes and fangs. It was snarling something fierce. I managed to escape. But Anthony…"
"It's okay Aurora," I put my hand on her back.
"You saw the vampire?" Sherlock said.
"Yes. It's smart. And bloodthirsty," Aurora replied. Sherlock and I exchanged uneasy glances. Aurora sighed. "You two can leave now. You have no further reason to be here. Have a nice day."
She literally shoved us out onto the street. It was still freezing as hell. I wrapped my coat around me and shivered. Sherlock chuckled. I flipped the bird at him. He rolled his eyes. We wandered towards the main road, weaving through the alleyways.
"You will take care of John," Sherlock said.
"Of course. Wait, you're letting him go out there?" I asked.
"If it means we can put an end to this monster then yes, even if I hate the idea," Sherlock said with a sigh.
"Don't worry about it. If he gets hurt I get hurt," I replied, "And besides, John is my friend."
"True," Sherlock said. He stopped.
"What?" I asked. Sherlock sniffed the air.
"You smell that?" he asked. I sniffed. I could smell something faint. Bitter and metallic and fresh. I sniffed again.
"Shit. Blood," I said. Sherlock sped off down an alleyway. I yelled after him. Bastard is faster than me. But I'm just as fast in wolf form. We stopped at the end of the alleyway. As I walked to Sherlock I could see specks of blood on the ground. Shit. I stood next to Sherlock and gasped.
A bloody body of a dark man was sprawled across the ground. His body was twisted unnaturally. Bite marks aligned his body. His throat laid next to him. He was the same as the last two bodies. But there was something different. This one had a note. Sherlock was frozen next to me. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I couldn't speak. Two words painted in blood along the wall.
Get Sherlock.