Rhett's lifeforce was flowing out of him. Not into the mimic that had bitten into his neck, but out onto the floor. Fortunately for him, Christine was a nurse. She also was good with a baseball bat. The sheer force of her swing had nearly taken the fake Inspector Kaprik's head clean off. It broke the bat, allowing Christine to drive the broken stem into the creature's heart.
Which did absolutely nothing. Those kinds of legends existed to make people feel they were safe. Rhett was able to kill the Upyr, but only because it was a lesser one. His jugular had now been shredded and blood was pouring out of him at too fast a rate to allow for much of an attack. He had mostly reduced the creature to ash. Christina was now saving him.
The real Inspector Kaprik came bursting into the room, along with six armed men. They took one look at the flames, Rhett, then Christine, and froze in place. Inspector Kaprik lowered her gun and had them do the same. Once the ambulance arrived she sent the extra men back to the precinct. No crime scene. No pictures. No samples. What happened here was not leaving this place. She was not going to unleash a mob like they had ten years ago.
"Thank you, Christine," she said. "It appears both Rhett and I owe you our lives. The beast would have surely returned to finish me off later."
"What was that thing?" asked Christine. The ambulance had loaded Rhett inside and was speeding away.
Inspector Kaprik lowered her voice even though they were alone. "I don't know, but I don't think this is the first time Rhett has seen one."
"Do you mean when it pretended to be me the other night?"
"Yes, but even before that."
Handing Christine some wipes, they headed for her car. The wipes did nothing but smear the blood all around. "What do you mean?" asked the young nurse.
"Rhett has a gift. An ancient gift. But it costs him dearly to have it."
"Is that why his teeth smell so bad?"
"No, that's because he's British. I'm not sure what is up with that."
Inspector Kaprik decided to take Christine to the station. The poor girl was a mess. At least the blood was starting to dry a bit. Rhett was lucky to be alive. If Christine hadn't been there to staunch the bleeding, he would have died.
"What the power Rhett has is, I can't say. I don't understand it. I am not sure he does. I just know that it makes him dance on the edge of a volcano. Ten years ago he was headed down here to help with the last missing boy. They found him two months later in the states. Texas, I think it was. He talked to the cactus in his room for nearly a year before they finally released him."
"That's horrible," said Christine. Poppy smiled at her innocence, but she needed to know. She was now involved. She would never be free again. She would see things far worse than what she had just been through. Ten years ago Poppy had seen things that still made her shudder to remember.
"Rhett is a lot older than you think, Christine. A lot older. Forty years ago the first child was abducted. He was there. You weren't even born yet. I was still in pigtails."
Christine gave her an incredulous look. Then curiosity. "I bet he looked exactly the same as he does now," she said. She was starting to understand.