Blood Pact

shirt clung to her sides, and she had to keep switching the flashlight from hand to hand to dry her palms.

    "This isn't going to work." Her arm dropped to her side and the hall slid into darkness except for the puddle of illumination now spilling over her feet. "The layout of this place defeats any kind of a systematic search. "We've got to use our heads.”

    "Granted," Celluci agreed. He tucked himself up against her left shoulder; close enough, he judged, for her to see his face. "But we've got a crazy woman who's run off with a vampire. That doesn't exactly lend itself to logical analysis.”

    "It has to." Adjusting her glasses, more for the comfort of a familiar action than from necessity, she gave half her mind over to searching the scant information they had for clues. The other half of her mind filtered the noises of an old building at night, listening for the approach of shuffling footsteps. Suddenly, she turned to squint up at Celluci. "Dr. Burke said Henry was in a large metal box.”

    "So?”

    "And she implied it was heavy.”

    "Again, so?”

    Vicki almost smiled. "Look at the floor, Celluci.”

    Together, they bowed their heads and stared at the pale, institutional gray tile, dulled by the passage of thousands of feet. A number of nicks and impressions dimpled the surface with shadow and darker still were a half-dozen signatures of black rubber heels.

    "If the box is as massive as Dr. Burke implied," Vicki said, raising her head and looking Celluci in the eyes, "one way or another it'll have left its mark. Rubber wheels will scuff. Metal wheels will imprint.”

    Celluci nodded slowly. "So we look for the tracks she left moving the box. It's still a big building. . . .”

    "Yeah, but we know damn well she didn't take it up and down the stairs." Vicki raised her arm and shone the flashlight down the hall. "The power's on, so the elevators must be working. We check just outside them on every floor for the marks and then backtrack from there.”

    An appreciative grin spread over Celluci's face. "You know, that's practically brilliant.”

    Vicki snorted. "Thanks. You needn't sound so surprised.”

    For no reason other than that they had to start somewhere, they began working their way down from the eighth, and highest, floor. On three, they found what they were looking for, pressed not only into the tile but into the metal lip leading onto the elevator, were the marks of two pairs of wheels about four feet apart. Silently, they stepped out into the hall and let the door wheeze closed behind them.

    No one appeared to investigate the noise.

    Unwilling to risk the flashlight and a premature discovery, Vicki grabbed Celluci's shoulder and allowed him to lead her down the hall. To her surprise, moving in what was to her total darkness was less stressful than the peep show the flashlight had offered.
    Although she still listened for approaching footsteps, the accompanying tension had lessened. Or maybe, she conceded, her grip tightening slightly, it's just that now I have an anchor.

    When they reached the first intersection, even she could see the way they had to go.

    The harsh white of the fluorescent lights spilled out through the open door and across the corridor.

    Vicki felt Celluci's shoulder rise as he reached beneath his jacket and she heard the unmistakable sound of metal sliding free of leather. Up until this moment, she hadn't realized he'd brought his gun. Considering the amount of trouble he could get into for using it, she couldn't believe he'd actually drawn it.

    "Isn't that just a tad American ,” she whispered, lips nearly touching his ear.

    He drew her back around the corner and bent his head to hers. "What Dr. Burke neglected to mention," he said in a voice pitched to carry to her alone, "was that there's something else wandering around in here besides a mad scientist and your uh . . .”

    "Mother," Vicki interjected flatly. "It's okay." Her feelings were irrelevant to the situation. And I'll just keep telling myself that.

    "Yeah, well, something else killed that kid and we're not taking any more chances than we have to.”

    "Mike, if it's already dead, what good will shooting it do?”

    His voice was grim as he answered. "If it died once, it can die again.”

    "So what am I supposed to use, strong language?”

    "You can wait here.”

    "Fuck you." And under the bravado, fear. Not alone. Not in the dark. Not here.

    They made their way to the open door. Vicki released