Modus Morte: Chapter 8

Jayna turned her back on the facade of Minutemen Inc. and Reaper, standing inside the doorway, and walked off into the deepening J Street evening vowing to start to pay better attention to the happenings about town in general, and her reputation in particular. She had no idea that she was so well known outside of her circle, or that anyone would consider her to be famous. She had always thought of herself as just another of J Street’s anonymous shop owners (even if her name was on the sign), who happened to have an interesting, if private sideline.

It had been raining and though it had stopped some time ago, the street was still wet, water still poured from the occasional gargoyle on the older buildings, and cars splashed as they went past.

She had gone about five blocks when she realized that she was going the wrong direction. She stopped to get her bearings and laughed at the absurdity of her new-found resolve to pay attention, when she noticed a young boy who was skateboarding down the sidewalk about half a block in front of her slam into a zombie that had shambled out from a space between the buildings. The skateboard kept on going, but the boy was all tangled up in the lumbering corpse who was flailing at the boy who was now screaming at the top of his lungs. A few people ran out of the surrounding buildings, but no one seemed to have a clue as to what to do.

Jayna silently cursed the kid’s parents for letting him out so close to dark all alone, then flew into action. She ran up to the growing crowd and pushed her way to where the boy and zombie were thrashing together. As usual there was a growing number of concerned onlookers, but no real assistance was being offered.

"Get back, all of you!" she shouted. She smashed the zombie in the face which managed to take its attention away from the boy long enough for her to grab him by the collar and toss him to the nearest male bystander. Of course most of the people were just standing around staring and did nothing to clear the area. She turned her head toward the closest person and said in a cold, clear voice, "Get back if you don't want to get hurt, or worse."

The zombie began to grope the front of Jayna's jacket, which didn't help her mood at all. She grasped the zombie's forearm and neatly pulled its entire arm from its socket. It made a sound reminiscent of someone tearing a paper mache piñata in two, and caused someone behind her to begin retching. She handed the zombie back his arm, and he stood there stupidly staring at it. She was inwardly grateful for the zombie’s lack of brain. It would buy her time to clear the area.

"Now will you all just step back so I can finish this thing off?" This time the response was swift as the people seemed to be in a hurry to back away. Sometimes a little show of force has it's benefits. She thought to herself, pulling a handful of powder out of one of her pouches, tossing it on the zombie, and snapping her fingers as she took a few steps away from it herself. The corpse burst into flames with a whoosh and burned quickly because of its desiccated state. Amid the crackling she could hear the sound of a siren coming from down the street. It seemed as though the cavalry would get to the scene a little belatedly once again.

"Go back to whatever you were doing. The show's over." she told the remaining onlookers as she walked away from the burning zombie. The siren had given her an inspiration. She would go to the JSPD station since it was closer to where she happened to be than home. She was sure Torres would have more information that would be helpful in her research and she might as well drop in and say hello, since she was in the neighborhood.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Detective Torres smiled without looking away from her computer screen as the officer let Jayna into her office, and motioned at the chair in front of her desk. "I'll be with you in just a sec… I need to get this report finished first."

Jayna sat on the only other seat in the cramped space and began to study the room to pass the time. She was struck by how impersonal the space was. There weren't any pictures on the desk or walls, no curtains at the window, only the stock mini-blinds that she had seen throughout the building so far. There were two of the standard gray filing cabinets that one came to expect in almost any office and a couple of large corkboards covered in memos, but nothing to indicate that this office was occupied by a woman or a person with any sense of personal style. It was all very sterile and businesslike. She made a point of not reading any of the memos or other papers up on the walls, deciding that it was none of her business and better left that way.

"There, I'm finished, now I can give you my complete and undivided attention." Torres said, turning the screen to face the wall and glancing at her watch. "What can the JSPD do for you?"

"Oh, I was hoping to be able to chat with you for a bit, but I won't keep you if you have somewhere else you need be. This isn't official business. I've got to ask you one question while I'm here though. Is there some Universal Law of police decorating that I don't know about? I mean every police station I've ever seen, heard of, or read about has the same seedy look to it."

"I've never really thought about it, but I can see what you mean. They are pretty standardly bad, aren't they? The powers that be probably decided not to waste any effort on grunts and perps."

"I was just wondering if it was on purpose, or just coincidence. I can come back another time."

"I was thinking about calling it a day and getting out of here before they find something else for me to do." Torres opened a desk drawer and pulled her bag from inside and set it on her lap. "Any chance I could talk you into taking this somewhere else, since it isn't police business? I could go for some food right about now."

"I wouldn't mind at all really, but can I use your phone to call Ciela? She's been watching the store for me and I suppose I should let her know that she'll have to fend for herself tonight."

"That won't be a problem." Torres pushed the phone across the desk to Jayna who picked up the receiver and dialed.

"Ciela? I'm going out with a friend for dinner. Can you close up the shop and fix yourself a sandwich or something?" Jayna listened to the reply and snickered. "Ok then. We both agree not to get worried if the other isn't there when we get in. Bye!" Jayna hung up the phone and pushed it back to Torres. "She’s going to meet Mike at the mall and go out for pizza. I shouldn't have worried. So what do you feel like for dinner? Jimmy Lee's isn't too far from here."

"Oh, God no. Please, no Chinese, Mexican, or pizza for me. I am so sick of standard police take-out. I could really go for a nice steak dinner right now."

"I'll make you a deal. I'll buy whatever you’re in the mood for if you promise to tell me whatever you can about this zombie problem we're having."

"Zombies... Only a free steak dinner could possibly get me to talk about that subject tonight. I only just managed to get out of having to look into an incident a few blocks from here."

"Oh that. It wasn't that much."

"You saw it?"

"Yea, you could say that."

“This is going to require a lot of explaining, isn’t it?”

Modus Morte: Chapter 9

Jayna and Torres slid into a booth in the packed restaurant after managing to somehow slip past the line at the hostess' desk without a wait. Once they were situated with their menus, Torres whispered, "The hostess is dating one of my cousins."

"Hey, whatever works." Jayna replied, opening her menu. The fare was nicely varied and the prices were good, the short wait had been a bonus. "This looks to be a pretty popular place."

"It does a healthy amount of business, and they have a habit of keeping a couple of tables open for VIPS, friends, and family so I was fairly certain we could get right in."

A waitress came to the table bearing a basket of warm rolls and inquired if they were ready to order, which they were. Torres ordered the aforementioned steak, rare with a baked sweet potato, and Jayna ordered the braised duck breast with sautéed vegetables. Once the waitress was safely out of earshot, Torres continued with their conversation from the car. "You can't just walk away from a scene like that. You need to wait for the officers to arrive and make a statement. I can cover for you this time. I'll say that you were on your way to meet me when it happened, but you need to make sure you follow through the next time, if there is a next time."

"I thought I was performing a public service by rescuing that kid. I saw a problem and did something about it. If the PD doesn't want any help I won't do it again."

"Don't be obtuse. Incinerating a zombie on a public street isn't something the police wouldn't be interested in and you should know that. It isn't a matter of not wanting the help. It’s a matter of following procedures." Torres tore a roll in two a bit more forcefully than necessary and looked hard at Jayna.

"I don't mean to snap at you, but this zombie thing has the City Fathers all jumpy, which means my bosses are too, and as the saying goes, shit rolls down hill. These damned things are showing up all over the street and it's getting worse. There doesn't seem to be any purpose to them, or any force guiding them. They just crawl out of the ground and wander off aimlessly until they bump into something alive, and then all hell breaks loose. We can't be everywhere at once, and by the time we do get to an incident it's often gotten out of hand. For the most part the general public has been useless. The ones who are generally equipped to deal with this type of problem have either been worked to exhaustion or have just disappeared."

"Why don't you just post a man or two at the cemetery that they are coming from and use what I did to stop them before they can cause any trouble? The stuff isn't much more than flash powder, and I can get it for you in bulk." Jayna began to wish the waitress would come back so she could order something stronger than iced tea.

"Granted, I got lucky. The zombie I ran into was very old and dried out, so it caught fire and burned a lot faster than a fresh one would."

Torres shook her head and laughed bitterly. "I wish it were that easy. First, they are popping out of cemeteries all over the area. We don’t have the manpower to watch every graveyard on the street. Unless it gets worse than it has I doubt the Chief would even authorize the overtime for that. Second, if we start roasting them openly, one of the fresh ones, as you put it, would probably wander off into a building before it burned completely and set the place on fire. Then we'd have a lawsuit to contend with, not to mention what could happen if some ancestral preservation society got wind of it."

"So what you are saying is it's hell if you do, and hell if you don't." Torres nodded in response.

"One more question and I'll let the subject drop for tonight. Are you certain that they are popping up all over and not coming from just one cemetery?"

"That's the only thing I am certain about in this mess. The dead aren't resting quietly anywhere on J Street. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm no expert on zombies, but it just seems odd to me."

“That’s what my grand-mère was saying, but she’s no expert either.”

“Grand-mère?”

“Yeah, she’s a bit of a witch, a bruja, you know?” Torres shrugged.

Jayna nodded in agreement as their salad arrived. “A lot of arcane-minded folks on J Street know something is up. They just don’t seem willing to do anything about it.”

“And you are?” Torres tilted her head slightly, studying the older woman.

“Doesn’t look like I have much choice, does it?”

“You could bury your head in your books and pretend nothing is going on outside that shop of yours.” Torres offered. “I’m sure there’s not a zombie out there that could bother you inside…you didn’t skimp on the protection spells.”

Jayna looked at Torres askew. “You’re magic sensitive?”

“No, I just know what to look for.” Torres leaned forward a little bit. “Look, Jayna, just promise me one thing. Do not go off half-cocked after these zombies and get yourself in trouble with the JSPD. If you know something, if you find out something, let us know.”

“I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll let you know anything I find out, and you can pass it along if you think it’s worth the JSPD’s time. Deal?“

“Deal.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The young man illuminated in the candlelight was terribly thin and pale, one might say unhealthily so. His reddish-brown hair was rough-cut and approximately shoulder length, his eyes dark and deep-set with a wild, manic intensity. The room in which he stood was simply a walled-off section of an ancient limestone-walled basement furnished primarily with found objects, other people's castaways. Clearly the finest of these objects was the chair that he now faced.

"Honey, I'm home!" he declared in great seriousness and dropped to his knees in front of that chair and it's occupant, taking one of the tiny, limp hands in his. He kissed the hand and then pressed it to his cheek. "I know, Pris. I missed you too."

Modus Morte: Chapter 10

Torres dropped Jayna off at her home very late, or rather, very early. They had taken their time over dinner, both savoring the food, atmosphere, and company. After dinner they had moved on to a bar, and later to a coffee shop/bakery. Once they had both agreed not to talk about zombies the conversation had been spirited and broached many subjects. Jayna admired the other woman's honesty. She had an almost total lack of self-consciousness, and brazen wit. She could see a real friendship growing between them.

Jayna had taken a shower and tried to go to sleep, but it was a total waste of time. The feeling that something was not quite right about the whole zombie situation was nagging at her and she could not get it out of her mind. She finally decided to act rather than brood, and got dressed. She was in the midst of the finishing touches on a pot of tea when she heard Ciela padding down the hall, either going to or returning from her morning ritual. "Morning." Jay called over her shoulder.

"Good morning!" Ciela replied, "You were out awfully late. Anybody I know?"

"Yes, Torres and I were out letting our hair hang down a bit and I brought you a present." Jayna held out a white bakery bag and shook it in Ciela's direction. "They are called bunuelos, and sounded like something you'd like."

"Oooh Jay, you are a saint! I haven't had these in ages. I hope they're good." Ciela practically flew across the room to take the bag.

"I have it on good authority that they are the best that can be had anywhere." Ciela beamed and Jayna was happy to see that in spite of all she had been through. Ciela was still unjaded enough to be moved by such small pleasures. "There is fresh juice in the fridge and I've made a fresh pot of tea."

Ciela took a seat at the table. "Tea would be fine, thanks." She opened the bag, pulled out one of the golden pastries and sniffed it before taking a bite. "Nope, not good, fantastic! Don't ever tell me where you got these, or I will get sooo fat!"

"I promise, but I think you could find them yourself, now that you know they can be had." Jayna placed a cup of steaming tea in front of her friend. "I want to ask you something before I lock myself in the basement for a while. Have you noticed anything out of place when you've been up on the roof in the mornings, or seen anybody hanging around?"

"No, but I'm pretty focused while I'm there. Is something wrong?"

"I'm probably just being overly cautious, but if you do notice anything you'll tell me right away, won't you?"

"Sure, but..."

"I'm going to be busy doing some research. I don't have any appointments scheduled, so the shop will be closed, but if anybody comes wanting to talk zombies come and get me. Okay?"

"Okay..."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

After exhausting her admittedly limited resources on the subject Jayna came to four inescapable conclusions. One, zombies did not rise at will, unbidden from the ground and never in a citywide area. Two, they did not move about aimlessly without somebody guiding them. Three, that was exactly what appeared to be happening here on J Street. Four, she was going to need some expert advice on the subject, and fast, if she was going to be able to do anything to help the situation.

Always the practical sort she decided to first check the Yellow Pages under reanimators, and was not surprised to find no listings. Failing in that, she knew of at least one other dimension where such persons could be found, but first it would be wise to talk with Jasper again and this time take notes. The tiniest detail might make a huge difference. Such was the way of magic.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Her discussion with Jasper had gone, for the most part, as she had expected it would. There was precious little new information to be gleaned, but at least she was certain that she had all of the particulars correct. After that it was back home to pack a few things, a quick call to Ciela to tell her that she would be gone for a while, and finally a check to locate the portal that would take her the closest to where she was intending to go.

Jayna stepped from the misty coolness of a J Street evening into the oppressive heat and humidity of a full summer afternoon in Missouri. Even for someone raised in the Mediterranean this was uncomfortable. Luckily for her the portal opened onto an inconspicuous spot in a hotel-parking garage. Even luckier the hotel wasn't booked full and she was able to obtain a room. Within minutes she was comfortably settled in her room and had found a full-page ad in the phone book for Reanimators Inc., touting their world-famous stable of experts in all things undead. Jayna thought the ad was more than a little bit tacky, but she was certain that if anyone could help with J Street's zombie problem, one particular member of this company could.

Unfortunately the reanimator that Jayna wanted to see was booked solid for the next several days. No matter how she insisted that all she desired was a consultation she would have to wait for an appointment, and pay up front. She had little choice but to agree to their terms, so she would make the best of it and take a bit of a vacation, but she would keep the receipts in case the JSPD could reimburse her. Fat chance, she thought, but it's worth a try.

Modus Morte: Chapter 11

Three days later a very well rested Jayna sat in the reception area of Reanimators Inc. She had already checked in at the desk and paid her retainer fee. The office had a nice, professional feel to it, not at all what one would expect from a business with such a name. There was no sense at all of a carnival or gypsy attitude to the place. This was as all business as a lawyer's or dentist's office, and the magazines were every bit as wretched.

"Ms. Alexander, Miss Blake will see you now." the receptionist called. Jayna was ecstatic and breathing a sigh of relief at how short the wait had been. It was only fifteen minutes, but then even fifteen minutes with nothing but year-old copies of US, Sports Illustrated, and Family Circle was enough to drive anyone mad. "Right this way." She was led down a short hallway with name-plated doors down both sides. A few of the names were familiar to her. Most were not, but the name on the door that she was led to was legendary - Anita Blake.

While the average J Streeter may have never heard of her, anyone given to dimension-hopping who also happened to be involved in matters arcane would most likely know her name and at least a bit of her reputation. In her dimension Ms. Blake was known as the foremost reanimator and also as The Executioner for her better than dozen confirmed rogue vampire kills. The receptionist opened the door and gestured for Jayna to go inside, which she did. The door closed silently behind her.

"Ms. Alexander, or is it Miss?" The woman seated at the desk greeted her. Jayna walked toward the desk and offered the woman her hand.

"Ms. is fine. I'm honored to finally meet you, Ms. Blake. You have quite the reputation." Anita stood and shook Jayna's hand. Jayna was struck by two old clichés almost simultaneously, the first never to judge a book by its cover, and the second that good things often come in small packages. Anita Blake was hardly over five feet, five foot two at the outside and quite petite. She was hardly what one would expect for a person of renown in her line of work.

"Please, have a seat and tell me what you want us to do for you." Jayna sat and began to explain the zombie situation in full detail, pausing to answer questions when asked. She was relieved to hear that Anita also doubted that Jasper was to blame for the problems all over the city. "It is impossible, as far as I know, to raise that many zombies by accident and without a major sacrifice. She could have exacerbated a situation already in motion, and this other person there almost certainly did, but I'm sure she wasn't the root cause."

"I'm sure that will make her very happy, but that doesn't get us any closer to stopping them."

"No, I'm afraid it doesn't, and the fact that they don't seem to be controlled by anyone is an added problem. You could follow them back to the source, as it were. Take care of whoever was controlling them and you would eliminate the problem. To be able to animate a number of them and keep them animated without direct control would require a large expenditure of magical energy. If the zombies carry the aura of the animator, you could look for that aura and perhaps track him or her down that way."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"I've been neglecting you," the young man raised his eyes to the pale, so still, face framed by perfectly straight golden blonde hair, "haven't I?" He returned the hand he held back into the lap of the immobile young woman in the chair and then thrust one of his hands into a pocket of his black jeans. He removed his hand and opened it revealing a child's butterfly hairclip.

"Look what I've brought you." Her eyelids fluttered a bit and finally opened to reveal glazed, ice-blue eyes that stared blankly ahead. He held the clip momentarily in front of her face before placing it in her hair.

"Doesn't that make you happy?" He peered intently into the blank face until, very slowly, the thin lips curled into a faint smile that never reached her cold, lifeless eyes. He took both her hands in his, then rocked backward, rising to a standing position. Her body slowly rose in response and then took two shuffling steps forward. He draped her arms over his shoulders and gently pulled her head to his chest, then slid his hands around her waist. They slowly began to dance.