“Yet effective. When the cup was returned, it remained pristine and in its position, and there it stayed for the next three decades. So you see. Deterrence can often be a tool used to keep what could be a community given over to vice to great politeness.”
“And you see that as admirable?”
“I see it as effective. I view the function of the Flames in a similar light. I would prefer to convert and convince those who would, perhaps, be swayed to listen by way of reason. The Flames, however, have their uses.”
“You have hidden depths, Brother Aleister.”
“As do you, I sense. Tell me. What are you really here for?”
“I’ve been honest about my intentions here.”
“Perhaps. Yet let me ask. Have you been forthright?”
I paused. His eyes burned into mine, and I felt like a butterfly pinned to a corkboard…
“I’m looking for someone,” I said after a minute. “I’ve been looking for a guy named Eddie that runs with the Flames. He and I met the other night when I was out with some friends, and I wasn’t able to get his contact information.”
Brother Aleister laughed, a hearty laugh, and shook his head.
“It was simpler in the old days,” he said. “You sent a letter. Whoever was headed in that direction would send it on, and pass it on, and then eventually, it would end up where it needed to be because everyone wanted their own letters. Yet now. Communication is as simple as swiping on one’s digital device, and still, the old yearning for connection raises its head here when letters travel miles in mere seconds. Eddie is. Indisposed. Currently on sabbatical from interpersonal relations. He has a tendency to make bad decisions which often come back to haunt him.”
“You’ve got this all wrong,” I said. “I just want to interview him for an article I’m working on.”
“Yes, and I drink wine… in moderation,” he said. “Some small advice from a community leader whose community is kept nice and quiet. We have a quiet neighborhood. The last thing we want is widespread scrutiny. You must understand the concern for privacy.”
I paused.
“I do understand that,” I said. “But you’re really missing out on some of the benefits that can happen from widespread knowledge. I mean, I’ve seen the streets and the exterior infrastructure around here. It’s like the city gives no funds to this district for repairs. I was at Sal’s the other day—honestly, his shop was so empty. I just wonder how much better everyone could do economically with more widespread knowledge about the community.”
“Entirely unnecessary,” Brother Aleister said. It was like a switch had flipped. All geniality seemed to have drained from him, and suddenly I was more nuisance than guest. He looked down at his watch, and a look of distraction came over his face. “Mmm. I’m so sorry to cut this short, but I have another appointment I’m running late for. Morning Mass and confession awaits. I suspect you can find your way to the front doors without my assistance?”
“Sure,” I said. “Just point me to the women’s bathroom first, would you?”
“Just down that hallway, first door on the right,” he said. “Wander if you must, but I insist you stay on the ground floor. Hartshome is still a work in progress regarding its recent remodel, and human traffic is hardly safe anywhere you haven’t been already.”
“Thank you for your hospitality,” I said.
“Always a pleasure to meet new faces,” Brother Aleister said. “And do take into consideration. We are quiet people here, Tamara. Too much attention would put many of us… off our appetites, I guess one could put it.”
“Sure,” I said.
I disappeared around the corner he’d mentioned. All I could feel was disappointment in my chest. That he’d so easily switched attention from me to his flock… Why did I want to impress him so badly? What was up with my hormones? Was it my hormones? Was it me? Was I just missing out on some father figure presence in my life?
When I made it to the bathroom, I leaned back against the door and breathed in deeply. There was a stained glass bathroom window that faced the parking lot—doves and a cross. I unlatched it, and then carefully slid it minutely open. After I caught my breath, I ran back out to the rental car.
I barely noticed the other woman staring from another car, a woman with wild eyes and untamed hair. She was just there, and then everything that was odd about the trip I’d just made and Brother Aleister hit me at once. I started up the company car and tried not to shake as I drove away.
Chapter 9
Another coffee shop freakout, only now I sat in a corner, chewing my nails and spinning a cinnamon bun around in sticky fingers, writing everything down in shorthand and looking through my notes and pictures.
I’d stumbled onto something. Oh boy, had I ever. I looked down at my handwriting again.
Vampires are real, and they have a community in a central Chicago cathedral! It couldn’t have been more obvious. If it had been just one or two things, I could have chalked it up to something else… but everything together… Eddie’s aversion to blood, the way his tongue probed my mouth, tongue darting to my cut... Sal’s weird shop, the hidden menu. And then Brother Aleister, talking about a patron Saint of ethical hunting, and wasn’t that a story about Vlad the Impaler, that golden cup story?
All the pieces were there. These were bloodsuckers. And really obvious about it, to boot.
The first question was who I ought to call. Tamara? Gabriel? Dad, the Pastor, who would demand I move home and leave the city? Would anyone believe me? How was I the one, of everyone in Chicago, who would accidentally bump into this situation?
