The Parisian Codex

14 - Never wake a sleeping vampire

I didn't know how much time had passed. A minute or hours? Suddenly I was awake, fully aware that intruders were breathing next to my box.

My fingers found the latch of their own accord, and I pushed the heavy lid back with all my might. It fell to the ground with a metallic clatter.

The neon light glowed, blinding me for a moment. But a vampire has other senses. Especially a vampire disturbed in the middle of the day.

My mind wasn't fully awake. Only a small part of my brain, the one that manages fear and violence, was operational. For this reason, I was unable to think about talking to them. My body had begun to act without waiting for a command from my mind.

There were three of them. Human. Male. Menacing.

I jumped on the nearest man. I put one hand on his shoulder, grabbed his chin with the other, and pulled. Muscles ripped, tendons snapped, and vertebrae dislocated. The man hadn't hit the ground before I turned to the next intruder.

Fear distorted his face. He looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a speeding car. He was no longer a threat, but prey. And my body reacted accordingly. I plunged my canines into his carotid artery and sucked hard. I emptied the body to the last drop, released it, and turned towards the last intruder.

"Dupré!" cried a terrified voice.

Sated and out of danger, I regained my senses enough to recognize the voice. "Bel?" I growled. "What the hell are you doing in my home?"

He was wearing black pants and a turtleneck sweater in the same color. A pair of soft-soled shoes completed his perfect little burglar outfit. But he hadn't bothered to hide his face—pale and distorted with horror. "I've come to collect the codex," he said, his voice a hair too high.

I paused for a moment as my brain tried to work out why Bel thought he'd found the codex in my room.

Then he added: "Nadine told me you'd found Robert's corpse. But when the police searched the place, they found no trace of the codex."

"Because the killer took it," I said.

"That's what I'm thinking."

"You believe that..."

Bel pulled a gun from his pocket, and I gave up trying to reason with him.

It was a small, matte-black pistol with the barrel pointed at my head. I threw myself at Bel and snatched it from him before he could pull the trigger. I threw the gun to the ground, pivoted, and twisted Bel's arm behind his back. His heart throbbed beneath his ribs, and blood pounded under the skin of his neck. I was on the verge of indigestion, but it would be a nice change from blood bags...

Something shuffled in the hallway outside the entrance to my office. I froze.

"Germain?"

It was Romane's voice.

Bel stirred and filled his lungs. I gagged him with one hand. "Squeal and I'll bite your carotid to pieces."

It wasn't a metaphor but a promise.

I took my hand away from his mouth, and he whispered furiously. "You're a monster. The police will..."

The office floor creaked, and Romane's voice repeated: "Germain?"

She was getting closer. I couldn't afford to let her see the inside of my room and the two corpses lying on the floor.

"You won't tell the police," I whispered to Bel. "You've got too many secrets to let them pry into your life."

It was just a guess. But a guy who breaks into people's homes because he thinks he'll find his property there isn't in the habit of confiding in the authorities. Bel's silence confirmed my intuition.

I pushed him out of the room and closed the connecting door. He let out a grunt of pain.

"Germain?" said Romane. "What's going on?" She froze, her eyes wide. "You're bleeding!" Then, finally noticing Bel: "Did that guy hit you?"

I wiped my lips with the back of my hand. I had blood all the way down to my chin. The problem with arteries is that they gush when opened.

Bel breathed in as if to speak, and I interrupted him with a slap on the back.

"He was leaving," I said.

The two corpses were out of sight, but the harsh neon light revealed the state of my office. The metal cupboard had been pushed back to clear the door, and then its contents spilled onto the floor. There, it had mingled with the contents of every drawer, file, and box in the room. The floor was covered with several inches of yellowed paper. The various shelves I'd used to store my jumble had been thrown to the floor as if looking for a hiding place in the stone walls.

I pushed Bel towards the door again, and he didn't hesitate. Once on the landing, he turned around. "I'm not finished with you yet!" he declared in a voice too weak to be threatening. "I'll find the codex, and if you get in my way..."

I lost what little cool I had. "Bug off with your codex! I told you I don't have it. Get lost, and if you come back, you know what's waiting for you!"

Bel ran back up the stairs, and Romane stared at me in horror. "Germain, what's going on?"

A faint growl drew her attention.

"Kitten!" she cried.

I followed her gaze and discovered the cat perched on the metal cupboard—the only piece of furniture still standing. His back was round, his tail ruffled, and his fangs exposed. Romane stretched out her hands towards it, and it struck a vicious blow with its claws.

"Ouch!" cried Romane. "What's..."

"What time is it?"

"Three o'clock."

"Who breaks into an office in the middle of the afternoon?" I growled.

"Someone who knows you're only there in the evening?" suggested Romane.

My ad in the Yellow Pages included my opening hours. At 3 pm, I wasn't supposed to be there.

"What about you? What the hell are you doing here?"

"My social studies teacher wasn't in, and I met Madame Champolion on the stairs. She'd heard a noise and wanted to call the police..."

"You'd better go and reassure her," I said, gently pushing Romane towards the exit.

The last thing I need is for the cops to turn up in this mess.

"But you're bleeding," Romane protested, "don't you want to...?"

I suppressed the retort that rose to my lips and took it upon myself to declare in an almost civilized tone. "I need to be alone. Thanks for everything."

I took her out into the hallway, wished her a good day, and put the door back in its official place.

The cat refused to leave the top of the cupboard, and I moved the feline with the furniture. The cupboard wouldn't guarantee my peace and quiet, but it would at least discourage honest people from coming to check on me.

I returned to my room and tried to close the door. The bolt had been sawed off. How could I have slept while my door was being attacked with an angle grinder? Vampire sleep really was a mysterious phenomenon. But I wouldn't unravel its secrets that day. I retrieved a metal chair and wedged it under the door handle. That would have to do. I'd go to the store and buy a new lock the first chance I got.

I turned back to the room and stared at the two corpses.

"I'll clean up later," I mumbled before going back to bed.