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  Then, it hit her. Jack had already given her the answer. She thought of Jack’s business partner, Dexter Duvane. Jack had told her a few months before he died that if anything strange ever happened while he was out of town on business to give Dexter a call. Erica didn’t know Dexter well, and found him a little weird, but Jack insisted he was not weird, just eccentric and that Jack trusted him with his life on many occasions. Erica had not known what to think about the cryptic comments, and had forgotten about them until now. Thinking back, had Dexter literally saved Jack’s life? Had she naively misinterpreted what had been said? Jack had often said thank you for a cup of coffee, a reminder, some inconsequential thing in the big scheme of things and added “you saved my life.”

  Erica tried to remember the last time she had seen Dexter. The funeral came to mind. He had given her his condolences and said to call him about Jack’s business arrangements when she was ready. She sighed. It was far past time to deal with Jack's business partner. But he seemed to have things in order and her bank account was receiving regular deposits in keeping with what had been deposited when Jack was alive. She had felt no urgency to contact him. He had given her a card. Where did it go? She wondered. Looking through her desk she found the stack of cards and sympathy letters she received that sorrowful bleak day. She sorted through the pile until she found his card. It had his business number, and on the back he had written his private cell number. She would call him first thing in the morning.

  3

  “Hello, is this Dexter?”

  “Yes, this is Dexter Duvane. How may I help you?”

  “Hi, Dexter, it is Erica Rooney. Sorry to bother you so early on a weekend, but Jack always said you were someone I could call if I ever needed anything,” Erica said.

  “Erica, I’ve been waiting to talk to you. Is everything okay? Are you safe right now?” Dexter said.

  Are you safe right now, the words and the concerned, ominous tone of his voice told Erica a lot. It was disconcerting. It seemed Dexter wasn’t surprised to get her call. If anything, he sounded surprised it took her so long to make the call.

  “I’m safe, I think. I had a few strange incidents in the last couple days. I was attacked in the parking garage at work a few days ago by a random mugger and then some creep attacked me at a nightclub last night. I would’ve brushed it off as coincidence and bad luck but some weird things have been happening around the apartment lately. I think maybe I have just been over thinking things?”

  “Erica, I am getting in my car right now. I will be at your place within a few hours. Don’t let anyone in your place before I get there,” Dexter said before hanging up on the call.

  Erica was taken aback by the abrupt end of the call. She shivered. Her fears were not being dismissed. As curt as the phone call had been, the fact that Dexter was on his way over was reassuring. Maybe the eccentric Dexter would have some answers for her. Erica glanced at the deadbolt on her door. It would stay on until she saw him through the peephole.

  ...

  “Thank you for coming, Dexter, I didn’t think you would just drop everything and show up.”

  Dexter nodded. “Some conversations aren’t good to have on phones. There are too many people listening. I needed to come see you and make sure you’re safe. Now, tell me about your strange incident. Don’t leave out any details, however trivial they might seem, and anything strange that’s happened since Jack died. I need to know about those as well.”

  Erica, unsure how to proceed, decided to start at the beginning. She told him about how the police had bothered her, the strange questions, the details about Jack’s blood being drained, all of the times she felt like she was being watched, the times she was sure someone had broken into her apartment, and all about the previous night when she was grabbed. When she was done talking, she looked carefully at Dexter, almost expecting him to tell her she was just going crazy. Instead, he asked more questions.

  “Describe the man from last night, every detail,” Dexter said.

  “He was average height and build, but incredibly strong and fast. I thought my arms were going to break off the way he grabbed them. It happened so fast. I couldn't scream. Even though the bouncer was huge he knocked him down like he was nothing. The creep had blond hair, pale skin, and dark eyes. He gave me the most intense and angry stare I have ever felt and disappeared into the crowd.”

  “And you have never seen him before?”

  Erica thought back to the man. There was something familiar about him and his evil eyes. “I might have seen him a few months ago, right before Jack was murdered. I’m not sure if it is same guy or not, but the eyes, I remember those eyes,” Erica said. “Now, can you tell me what is going on? Am I going crazy?”

  “I can tell you. Whether you believe or not will be an entirely different story. Erica, the man who attacked you last night was most likely a shifter, or a vampire,” Dexter said.

  Vampire? Obviously, that was a joke. But what the hell is a shifter? Erica’s mind raced. Is shifter the name of a gang? Shifter, where have I heard that term before? Erica thought back to the last movie she had watched. They had called the werewolves, shifters. But that was a ludicrous thought. Surely, something more logical was the answer.

  Erica looked at Dexter closely and realized he was not joking. She waited for him to crack a smile, laugh, anything to indicate he was just messing around. Dexter sat there stoic, waiting for her to reply. She wondered if the eccentric Dexter was really an unbalanced Dexter. She would probe, hoping not to sound like an idiot, if her idea came across as crazy to him.

  “A shifter? Like werewolf, lion shifter, and did you say vampire? Those are just rumors and children’s stories,” Erica said, knowing she was right. She hoped the man in front of her had not escaped from an institution of some sort. He did not laugh at her question. She stared at him in disbelief. It occurred to her she might be in danger. She took a step back and tried to hide her surge of panic.

  “Yes, shifter, as in he was likely a paranormal being. I would suspect he was a vampire. One can argue if a vampire is a shifter or something else, but that is a different conversation. No, the stories are not all rumors. You would be surprised, but many children’s stories are sometimes based in reality. Sometimes the truth is stranger than the myths.”

  “So all that government crap about a magical realm wasn’t just a big hoax?”

  “Unreha is very real. When we have more time, I can tell you all about it, but for now just believe that paranormal beings, shifters, elves, fae are all very real.” Dexter paused for a second, “Tell me, Erica, what did Jack tell you about our business together?”

  Erica wanted to laugh, but she could not. She looked at her guest in earnest. She was in total disbelief, and getting ready to bolt. But as she thought you gotta be fucking kidding, the memory of the two puncture wounds on Jack’s neck hit her like a punch to the stomach. She blinked and tried to wake up from a bad dream. It did not work. The farfetched explanation of shifters and vampires rocked what she knew about her world. It just did not compute and yet, Jack had been drained of blood. And it was true that the government had made a big announcement years ago about the existence of paranormals. But that had been a hoax hadn’t it?

  Erica was confused. If shifters were real, what did shifters have to do with her husband? Erica found her voice as her mind whirled. “He said that you two did research and data analysis on cultural integration of different races and cultures. I would try to get him to explain how he used computer models to map behaviors and cultural trends, I thought it sounded interesting, but he never got into real details. He always insisted that he left work at work and only wanted his time with me to be about us.”

  “That’s basically what we did; the minor details he left out are that the majority of our clients are shifters and other magical beings.”

  “I don’t understand, why would shifters hire researchers?” Erica decided to play along with the bizarre conversation.

  “They don
’t. They hire cultural adaptation consultants. Jack and I specialized in helping paranormals blend in, find places where they can lead productive lives, feel like part of a community instead of an outsider. Shifters have different needs than humans, but in some ways, they are exactly the same. They struggle with their uniqueness, can feel isolated and alone, and want to fit in with society. Jack helped develop a program for matching shifters with cultures that best suited their individual profile.”

  “Like a dating website for shifters?” Erica said.

  Dexter smiled. “Yes, but instead of finding a mate, we focused on communities. A werewolf shifter tends to do much better in rural communities, while vampire shifters are more likely to find success in a city. Fae and elven blood are more social and tend to do better in cities with strong LGBT communities. That is a generalization and each case would be broken down into much more detail, but that’s the basics of what we did, and what I still do.”

  “Why was Jack murdered? An angry client?” Erica said. Perhaps Dexter knew something about why Jack was murdered. Perhaps he had something to do with it. She gulped as her mind raced.

  “No, much worse than that I am afraid. Not all shifters want to integrate into human society. They believe humans are an inferior species and should be subjugated and treated like cattle. They consider shifters who mix with humans to be traitors, and humans who help them the enemy. Not all paranormals feel that way, but many do. They feel that the magical races are superior and should rule both Unreha and earth. It would never happen. The council of Unreha realize that and help insure the peace between the two worlds, but they have little control of the paranormals that already are among us.”

  Erica frowned. This was crazy.

  Dexter continued his story. “In recent years the number of paranormals in our world has increased and it has caused a lot of issues. There are many humans that know the truth and work to keep the peace, and help those who suffer.”

  “And Jack helped these paranormals who weren’t fitting in. So he was killed?”

  “There are many factions of paranormals who prefer to keep all paranormals separate from humans. Use human ignorance and apathy to foster hate among the paranormal community so that they rise against humans. It is delusional, but I’m afraid it does happen. They have started targeting shifters who don’t agree with them, and the humans who have helped them. Your late husband Jack was a huge part of that program. I believe his death is just the start of something much bigger.”

  “But why would they attack me? I had nothing to do with my husband’s work.”

  “Classic vampire tactics, I’m afraid. In Europe, back in the 1700’s, vampires were the most prevalent of the shifter breeds. They often lived among humans, but would still prey upon them. When a human would kill a vampire, other vampires would retaliate, killing that person and then his entire family. The more brutal and vicious vampires would leave the vampire slayer alive, for a while, but kill everyone the man loved first, before killing him,” Dexter said.

  Vampires, thought Erica, the idea seemed so farfetched and yet plausible. Jack had died from puncture wounds to the neck, and had his blood drained from his body. If that didn’t scream vampire, nothing did. And now these vampires wanted to kill her?

  “What do I do? How can I protect myself from vampires? Buy garlic and silver?

  Dexter shook his head. “While the movies are surprisingly accurate in some details of shifter lore, they have gotten other details incredibly wrong. Silver does have a powerful effect on werewolves and some vampires, but garlic doesn’t do much other than give them indigestion. The power of the church does have an effect, but mostly on creatures from hell. Which is an entirely different realm than Unreha.”

  “I’m confused. Hell and heaven are real, and there is another place, this Unreha?”

  “Yes. Think of Earth and Unreha as two connected realms or two sides of the same coin. Heaven and Hell are two polar opposite realms. There are scientists working on a theory of how the different realms coexist and but it is all very confusing, a whole lot of the big bang, dark and light matter and some other mumbo jumbo far smarter people than me find confusing.”

  “Back to the vampires. They killed Jack because he helped shifters, and now they are after me?”

  “It seems to be the case from what you’ve told me. And it doesn’t surprise me.”

  “So I’m doomed.” Erica’s shoulders slumped, her gray eyes looked incredibly sad and defeated. If these vampires wanted her dead, it didn’t seem like there was much she could do to stop them.

  “No, but your life as you know it has to change. You need to quit your job, leave this apartment and move somewhere new, somewhere where we can protect you. I’ll be honest, some of the times you felt like you were being watched, it was my people keeping an eye on you. We weren’t sure if they would try to attack you or not. I’ve had people watching at a distance since Jack’s death, but no one noticed anything out of the ordinary. If you had filed a police report after any of your break-ins, we would have had this conversation earlier.”

  Erica’s brow furrowed, she pointed at Dexter, raising her voice in frustration. “You? You had people following me? Why didn’t you just tell me what was going on?”

  “If you hadn’t seen a shifter with your own eyes, felt its power, and been told from the police that your husband died of puncture wounds to the neck, his body drained of blood, would you have believed a word I said?”

  As much as part of Erica wanted not to believe Dexter, she kept hearing Jack’s voice in her head, “Trust Dexter, no matter how strange the situation, you can always trust Dexter.” Jack must have known something like this could happen.

  Erica blew out a big breath of air. Dexter was right. She would not have believed it. Hell, it was still hard to believe. “So where can I move that will be safe, and when do I leave?” She looked stunned, as if someone had just pulled the rug out from under her feet.

  “Pack a bag, then call into work, saying you can’t make it in next week. You’ve been stressed enough lately that they won’t have a hard time with it. I have movers on their way here to get the rest of your stuff today.”

  Pack a bag and leave, just like that? But what choice did she have. If vampires were trying to kill her, then extreme measures might be her only chance at survival. She would have to trust Dexter.

  Erica grabbed a bag and stuffed a couple of changes of clothes into it. She also grabbed some toys, things she would rather not have other people see, and stuffed them into the bag. Erica took one last look around the apartment. She had shared so many good memories with Jack here. It was difficult not knowing if she would ever see the apartment again, but at the same time it was a relief to have an excuse to leave it and the recent bad memories it contained. She was tired of putting on a brave face. It was time to accept help. She felt like she had just agreed to a witness protection program.

  4

  Erica was surprised when they arrived at their destination. She had assumed when he said she had to leave, that they would be leaving the state, maybe even the country. She had not anticipated a relatively short drive out into the country, only a few hours from her downtown apartment.

  Seeing the look on her face, Dexter explained. “When we found out what happened to Jack, we knew there was a possibility that you might be in danger. We’ve been making preparations ever since. The place is almost ready.”

  “What kind of preparations?” Erica asked.

  Dexter got out of the car and walked around opening her door. “Come, I’ll try to explain.”

  Erica got out of the car, and walked beside Dexter as he headed towards the home’s front doors.

  “When Jack was killed, we knew that you could become a potential target,” Dexter said. “Those vampires we spoke of earlier, the really bad ones... They are trying to halt the peaceful integration of the different species that inhabit this world. They instill fear into those who oppose them. It’s their habit to exterminate n
ot only their enemies but also their enemies’ families. Their methods of terrorism work very effectively. They do instill fear, but to not oppose them is even more frightening. They tend to work in the shadows and avoid major confrontations so the government hasn’t used many resources against them.”

  Erica’s heart beat faster. “And my husband opposed them?” From their earlier conversation she knew the answer already, but she wanted to hear more about her late husband. Even if it seemed crazy.

  “He opposed their ideals, the segregation of species, and the harvesting of humans.” Dexter explained. “Your brave husband worked very hard to bring peace.”

  Erica sighed. Despite his having a secret life she knew nothing about, this sounded like the man she loved. Principled and stubborn to a fault. “So Jack pissed off the worst of the bloodsuckers?”

  Dexter nodded. His face was grim. “We like to only have unattached associates working with shifter issues regarding these vampires because of the inherent danger. But Jack fell in love with you, my dear. He took a less confrontational role, after meeting you. He focused more on integration, while I spent more of my time trying to provide security for the shifters we assist along with my role with the MBI.”

  “MBI?”

  “The Magical Bureau of Investigation. The agency that deals with paranormals and shifters. I do some recruiting for them and help with troublesome problems.”

  “I see.” Erica suddenly had an insight as to why Jack was reluctant to start a family. Things that did not make sense then, now made perfect sense.

  “That Jack was killed by this group of vampires was the worst possible scenario for you. We had hoped this would not be the case, that it was a lesser known cell of vampires that killed Jack or an individual with a grudge. We started following you and guarding your apartment building. We also started preparing for the eventuality of an assassination attempt by the worst of the worse. Construction on this place began immediately, so that you would hopefully have a safe place to live. It’s far enough away from the city that it’s hard to find. It’s owned under a fake company name. Even the car you drive will be under a company name. You’ll be able to keep a low profile. Hopefully you will be able to one day take back some of your old life. For now, the idea is survival,” explained Dexter.