The Night Beat

worked in the artistic pursuits. So, every time Prosaic City encroached on us to the point where it had a collapse and we had our version of a bad infestation of vermin, we redid the place.
    Current standard was wide at the bottom going quickly to various levels, but all slim and spiky after about the fifth floor. I called it a sort of Futuristic Eiffel Tower effect, which always made Maurice wince. Tons of shiny metal and windows that went dark when the sun was out, lots of light, no matter what. Grass where humans had streets -- we didn’t have the same transportation issues they did, after all, and grass is so much nicer to pad on. And roll on. I started to whine and realized I really needed to get back into human form or I was at risk of going wild for a while. Nothing wrong with going wild, of course, but there was too much going on to indulge in that right now.
    “Be a good girl and relax,” Maurice said soothingly. Sadly, it helped. I’d been friends with Amanda and Maurice for my entire undead existence, and no one knows what you really need and want to hear like a vampire.
    The doors slid open and Maurice and Amanda stepped on the moving sidewalk. Because we’d now entered Necropolis, but weren’t in what was called Necropolis Proper, we could still easily see the human plane. We sailed past a ton of pews, through several statues of the Virgin Mary and over the altar. At the priests’ room we went downward and into the Proper and the human parts faded away.
    What we called the Proper and a human would call ground level for Necropolis was about a hundred feet under what Prosaic City called the ground. We still had sunlight and moonlight and all that, we just sat a little lower on our astral plane. No Necropolite complained about this -- walking through humans was freaky and most didn’t like it. Those who did tended to be those who really thought they had definite human leanings and were just misunderstood. Yeah, even the undead have their version of modern day Goth kids. Not that a real Goth was a problem, but a wannabe is a wannabe, no matter what plane you call home.
    The sidewalk took us into the main part of Headquarters. Personnel were waiting to take Freddy and Sexy Cindy to Indoctrination and there were a host of medical personnel waiting for yours truly. I tried not to cringe and didn’t succeed, if Maurice’s mutterings were any indication.
    In addition to the med staff, there was another being waiting for me. “Oh, no. Maurice, do something.”
    “Not a thing I can do to dislodge him, but I’ll stay with you into the hospital,” Maurice said in a low voice.
    He was in full wolf form for no reason other than that he was a fanatic about it. I’d actually never seen him in human form and almost never in werewolf form, he was that committed to the rather ancient belief that werewolves were strongest in “natural animal form”. He bounded over, tail wagging, eyes serious, ears alert for any danger. “Vic, what happened? Are you going to be okay? Do you need a transfusion?”
    “Just got banged up, Ralph.”
    “I’d better stick with you. Werewolves need to pack together.” He was serious. Ralph Rogers, Werewolf With a Cause. He was a big, good-looking wolf, but a weregirl could only take so much dork in her life and Ralph threatened to exceed my limit on a nightly basis.
    “I think we can handle it, Ralphie,” Maurice said, as he pointedly swished by. Ralph and Maurice didn’t get along. At all.
    The med personnel got their paws, claws and talons on me, and I got hustled into a medical bay. They tried to keep Ralph and Maurice out, but Ralph was loud and insistent and Maurice was willing to be nasty and they knew it, so ultimately, it was a intimate group of ten by the time I got onto a bed.
    Ralph tried to get next to me. Maurice blocked him every time and made it look accidental. Really, a werewolf doesn’t stand a chance against a vampire, especially a smart and sneaky vampire, and there weren’t a lot of earnest and apple-cheeked ones out there.
    “Ralph, I really think I’m okay. I didn’t lose any blood, all my limbs are attached, and I can feel my bones setting themselves. Shouldn’t you be out on patrol or something?”
    “It’s my night off.” Ralph gave Maurice a dirty look. “Though I see I shouldn’t have taken it.”
    “Ralph, it was an ancient Sumerian demon crossed with some sort of slime monster. Maurice gave it his all, just like the rest of