Goth-ick
By Arianna (aka wavBec)

Arianna smiled when she saw the Southdown franking and British stamp on the silver-grey envelope in the morning post. It was always a treat to hear from Ilona Light, and it must be time for her annual Masquerade. Her parties were always strictly by invitation only, and one of her great eccentricities was that invitations were never sent until a week before the party date, nonetheless they were always very well attended. Last year it was held in Montreal with a French Revolution theme, and it had been great fun to dress up in Louis XVI style costumes. She slit open the envelope with a kitchen knife and found inside a party invitation hand-drawn to resemble a spider's web. "Oh dear," she gasped.

"What is it?" Julian asked, looking up from the crossword. She'd surprised him for his last birthday by arranging to having the London Sunday Times sent FedEx overnight each week. Monday mornings had since become a ritual of breakfast and collaborating on the puzzle over a pot of Earl Grey.

"Ilona's party this year is at Valcourt Castle, one of the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island."

"And that's bad?"

"No, but the theme for this year is - it's Goth."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I've just never tried to dress Goth before, I wouldn't know how to begin."

"It's not that hard really, some long nails, light powder, black eyeliner, dark lipstick, and black clothes with the right jewelry should do the trick. I'll wager the girls at Tapestry of Dreams can help."

She looked at him with raised eyebrows. "And just how do you know so much about it?"

"Nevermind," he grinned, burying his nose back into the crossword.

"You got an invitation also didn't you?" she asked hopefully. There was no bringing a guest at these parties you were either invited, or not.

He thought quickly about the envelope folded in half and hidden in his pocket before answering, "It doesn't matter, I'd not go anyway, I don't do Goth."

* * *

After lunch, they took a drive down to the funky little boutique, Tapestry of Dreams, and as predicted the two salesgirls were delighted with the prospect of converting Arianna into their version of Morticia Addams. A plain black dress with long sleeves and a slim but long skirt was a good place to start. Julian suggested a silky black shawl with painted roses and fringe as an accessory. For an alternate look, they found an assortment of talisman style jewellery. Arianna finally decided on a silver pentagram with a crystal point and a small Viking amulet. A black feathered owl mask would complete her costume. Julian added a pewter necklace of a dragon's claw clutching an aurora borealis orb to their selections before the clerk rang up the sale.

"My friend does really cool acrylic nails at the shop next door," suggested Janet, the younger salesgirl. "Last Halloween, she did mine black and painted like spiderwebs on them."

"That could be interesting." Julian smiled as he signed the charge slip the other girl presented from the cash register. He'd told them Arianna's money was counterfeit and not to accept it.

"Very funny Julian - you're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," he laughed.

Janet took her afternoon break and walked next door to introduce them to her friend, Marlene. Her next appointment had just cancelled and she told Arianna to sit right down at her work table. Ari's own nails were relatively short, just reaching the ends of her fingers so Marlene went straight to work fitting the correct size plastic tip onto each nail.

When the 10 claw length tips were securely glued on, she reached for her special shaped clipper and asked, "Okay now, what length and shape do you want them?"

"Short and rounded," Arianna said.

"Long and squared," Julian contradicted. Marlene sat back laughing at the two of them staring at each other.

"She's going to a fancy dress party with a Goth theme, would that not call for long?" he asked the manicurist.

"It really would suggest long and dark coloured," she said to Arianna.

"Alright, but not too long, and round off the corners, I hate them square."

"No problem, while I take them down, think about what colour you'd like. "

As Marlene happily went to work with the clippers and the extra course nail file, Julian went over to the rack of small bottles mounted on the wall. He picked up a bottle of black polish an turned to show it to Arianna with a questioning look.

"No," she said firmly.

Returning the bottle to its place on the shelf, he next picked up a pearl blue with sparkly flecks and showed it to her. When she glared at him, he shrugged and put it back. The pantomime continued while Marlene finished shaping the tips and started applying the acrylic overlay. She made it look so easy, dipping her paintbrush first into the liquid, then the pink powder, and applying the sticky ball of acrylic, patting and shaping it into smooth layers over the nails.

With just a little touch up filing after the acrylic was dry, Arianna now had 10 perfect long nails and it was time to make the colour decision. From the bottom shelf of the cabinet, Julian's last suggestion was a bottle labeled "DaVinci", a very dark burgundy colour with a slightly gold metallic finish.

"That one I like," Arianna agreed.

"I can airbrush spider webs or bats onto the nails if you'd like." Marlene suggested as she expertly painted on the base coat and started the first coat of the dark polish.

"I don't think so, the party isn't until Saturday, I still have to look relatively normal for the rest of the week." The colour finally chosen, now Julian was poking around in a box of papers underneath the cabinet and she wondered what he was looking at.

"What are these?" he asked, drawing out a white card of shiny gold images.

"They're decals - those would look very nice on this colour," Marlene answered.

Arianna looked at the sheet he put onto the table next to her, there were stars, moons, and several different style flowers. Marlene checked the decal sizes against the length of the new nails and made suggestions of what would, or wouldn't work. Finally, Ari chose a pair of decals of a long stem rose. Once cut from the sheet, the decals had to be soaked in water until they loosened from their backing paper and then carefully laid in place atop the polish on each ring finger. The last step was to cover the whole thing with a special sealing polish.

"Now the hard part, you have to sit still and let them dry thoroughly before I'll let you leave," Marlene teased.

"How do they feel?" Julian asked as they drove home from their shopping expedition. Arianna had been marveling at how much longer the new nails made her fingers appear.

"At first they felt heavy, but I'm getting used to them. I forgot to ask her how long they'll stay glued on."

"They should stay for a couple of months without coming unglued, but depending on how fast your own nails grow, they'll need to be refilled in a three or four weeks."

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that," she giggled.

"I'm glad. When will you leave for Newport?"

"There was a note from Ilona tucked in the envelope asking me to come out Friday afternoon and stay overnight at the mansion. She wants me to check out the sound system or something. The party is Saturday night starting at 8 with the grand unmasking at midnight. I'll probably leave Friday morning after breakfast and be home Sunday afternoon. What will you do this weekend?"

"I don't know, perhaps go down to the firing range for some practice, or do some exploring on the Internet." He'd been spending a little more time learning to use the computer since their experiences in Vermont.

* * *

By Friday morning, Arianna was so accustomed to the long nails that she'd almost forgotten they were artificial. The only problem she'd had with them was when trying to open a can of soda, but handing it to Julian had solved that dilemma. Her bag was packed and stowed in the boot of her 'new' car, and she'd mapped out the easiest route to Newport. Gervase Blue had arranged for her to keep the bronze Lexus that was left for them at the airport in Hastings.

"Call me on my cell-phone when you get there, I'll take it with me if I go anywhere." Julian said before kissed her goodbye near the door of the car.

"I'm going to scold Ilona for not inviting you," she pouted, smoothing a wrinkle on the front of his shirt as they stood with their arms around each other.

"Don't, she probably remembered I wouldn't come if it was Goth," he chuckled as she got in and closed the car door.

"Remembered? - I'll have to ask her about that." He watched her drive away and then went to the study to find the number for Valcourt Castle. He'd need to talk to Ilona before Arianna could.

* * *

The four hour drive to Newport was uneventful and actually rather boring. She'd borrowed a couple of CD's from Julian, but eventually tired of them and began scanning the local radio stations. Not finding anything to her liking, she was happy to finally reach the exit for the route leading to the Newport Bridge.

A butler greeted her at the front door of the mansion and led her to one of the many guestrooms saying, "Miss Light asked for you to join her in the Great Hall as soon as you've settled in, it's just down the hall and through the double doors." She called Julian to report in that she'd arrived safely and picked up her tool kit before setting off to find Ilona.

Valcourt was one of many mansions open to the tourists, but it was also available for private parties, and often hosted Murder mystery and renaissance type weekends, as well as assorted teas and balls throughout the year. It looked as if Ilona had pulled out all the stops for this year's party. The grand hall had it's own collection of armour and weaponry but for added atmosphere, she'd added a multitude of cobwebs and other decorations. The banquet table centerpiece was a pine coffin and there were candles everywhere. One wall of the long room was entirely made up of stained glass windows that had been specially installed so that at night, or on cloudy days, they could be backlit, casting an eerie glow of colours over the entire space.

"Arianna, I'm so glad you could come early." The well known cyberwitch had a very distinctive accent, but turning around Ari saw no signs of anyone else in the room.

"Ilona? Where are you?"

"Up in the musician's balcony luv, there's a hidden stairway to the left of the fireplace. Press the lion's nose to open the panel and come see what we've done."

Arianna was a bit timid to enter the small and dark closed in stairwell, but it was fairly short and she could see light at the top. She climbed the stairs quickly and was surprised at the view from the top of the balcony. From below, guests in the hall had no idea that the panels of carved figures encircling the room were actually the outer walls of this loft space. But from above, there were enough gaps and spaces in the carvings that anyone up there could observe everything that went on below. Ilona and the butler were standing there shaking their heads at a stereo turntable.

"Having a problem?" Arianna asked.

"You could say that, the blasted thing only wants to play backwards. Sorry, that wasn't much of a welcome, it's good to see you again."

"Good to see you as well. I always look forward to your parties. Let's take a look at this troublemaker." She went around to the back of the table where they'd set up the sound system and began methodically checking the wiring connections.

"I'm famished, we've not stopped since early this morning. Simmons, would you fix us some tea and sandwiches perhaps?" Ilona asked the butler.

"Of course madam, I'll be back presently." He bowed and left them alone in the loft.

"I love having him around, he takes everything so seriously." Ilona laughed. "Well, we have some catching up to do. I was sorry to hear you lost Hamilton last year, who are you working with these days?"

"Julian Seven."

"Oh, so you're the unlucky one."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Sorry, just teasing, I didn't mean to worry you. I've worked with him a couple of times in the past, he's a good man."

"I think so." Arianna said quietly, deciding not to ask why he'd not been invited.

"Did you tell him what this year's theme was? I'm curious if he had any response."

"Well, he helped me put together my costume, but then said you'd remember that he doesn't do Goth."

"That sounds like Julian. Goodness that memory goes back a long time."

"What memory?" Arianna sat down onto the floor to reconnect the speaker wires and looked at Ilona, hoping for an explanation.

"I don't know if I should tell you, he'd probably hate me for it."

"Oh please," she pleaded.

"Well, one time, probably twelve or so years back, we were assigned to infiltrate a club in New York City called "The Dungeon" to investigate some strange disappearances. Of the five of us that met there every night over the next couple of months, Julian made the most convincing Goth. He really got into the mood, the regulars liked him, and he seemed to let go and actually enjoy himself. My liaison stuck out like a right pillock no matter how gothy we dressed him. Some people just can't make a go of it. The other two, I can't even remember who they were now, just sort of disappeared into the background. We actually had some good times on that gig, but I think Juls got a bit worried that he could slip into that persona too easily and forget about reality."

"That's a side of him I'd like to see someday."

"It was good fun, I was sorry to see that assignment completed."

"Here's your problem, these lines are crossed. The turntable should be okay now." Arianna stood up and brushed off the knees of her trousers.

As the butler returned with a tray of lunch, Ilona placed a record onto the turntable to check the repairs. In a moment, the hall was filled with the powerful sounds of Tocata and Fugue in D Minor, a piece most people recognise from old movies of "Phantom of the Opera".

* * *

Late that night, Arianna couldn't stop wishing Julian was with her. Laying there alone in the massive four posted canopy bed she looked around at the other furniture. The whole room remind her of his grandfather's room back at the house in England. Dark red velvet curtains hung at each corner of the bed, held back by gold tasseled ropes. Above the fireplace was a landscape hunt scene, and on the writing desk there was even a wood and brass pencil box. To try and distract herself, she thought back to last years party. Half the fun of these masquerades was always trying to guess who was behind the costumes. Some people were easy to recognise, no matter what they wore, but others were always a challenge. Last year, she'd mistaken Gervase Blue for Graham Black, with somewhat embarrassing results. Julian had been like a bear with a sore paw while recovering from the gunshot wound in his shoulder and had flat out refused to attend. She fell asleep wondering if perhaps he just didn't like masquerades.

The next morning was sunny and warm. A perfect day for exploring the many shops and sights of Newport. Arianna set off just after breakfast with a brochure showing an assortment of self-guided walking tours and a detailed map of the cliffwalk.

* * *

Julian woke Saturday morning grumpy. He'd been tossing and turning all night. Each time he finally would get to sleep, he'd dream of falling and would wake with a jump. A hot shower didn't do much to improve his mood so he went downstairs for a cup of tea. While he waited for the water to boil, his eye was drawn to the folded envelope where he'd left it on the pass-through counter. He was beginning to feel a bit guilty for telling Arianna he'd not been invited.

Taking his tea into the study, he checked the e-mail for this morning, no messages of any importance. He wasn't even interested in surfing the net. Wandering back to the living room, he switched on the teley and flipped through the channels. The channels that weren't showing game shows or soap operas, were running vampire and horror movies. Finally turning it off in disgust, he looked at his watch, then went upstairs and pulled out a dry cleaning storage box from the top shelf of the closet. Blowing a fine layer of dust off the top of the box, he smiled wistfully at the memories locked inside.

Those were wild and fun days at 'The Dungeon', lucky for him, none of the team ever knew just how much fun. He shuddered to think of some of the things he'd agreed to back then. Fortunately none of his follies had been permanent, he'd kept the hoop earring in his left ear, but the other piercings had closed years ago. Aside from the things in this box, all other evidence of those days had vanished. Pleased to find that the black velvet coat still fit, he gave it a quick once over with the lint bush, then popped down to the local apothecary for some sundries to complete the disguise.

* * *

Arianna felt a bit silly in her goth costume, until she saw everyone else. There had to be at least fifty guests at the masked ball, all in equally amusing garb as her own. The main trick was to try and not be recognised so most of the people who were not dancing or eating, milled about the room trying no to talk to any one person for more than a few minutes. After dancing with a Bella Lugosi look alike that she suspected was either Chess1 or Chess2, Arianna got a cup of punch and snuck up to the musicians loft. She was feeling unexplainably edgy and wanted to sit down for a few minutes.

Simmons smiled and nodded his head when he saw her, he'd volunteered to act as disc jockey when he saw how efficiently the caterers invaded his kitchen. She was amusing herself by trying to guess if any others of the team from Vermont was there when she saw a new figure enter the room. He was dressed in black pants with a white, stand-up collared shirt, and a close fitting black velvet coat with elaborate buttons. Short spiky black hair showed above the white mask obscuring the top half of his face, and below the long coat sleeves she could see black nail polish on hands that were clutching an ornately jewelled cross. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her as a shiver ran down her arms. *It can't be* she thought to herself as she watched him scanning the room on his way to the buffet table.

"Simmons, is there any way to get down from here without going into the hall?" she whispered when she saw Ilona leave the hall below.

"Yes miss, there's a door behind this panel that leads to the upstairs hallway." He pressed a lever and the panel that looked like a cabinet opened.

"Thanks, I'll be back shortly," she smiled.

Finding her way through the maze of upstairs rooms to the grand staircase, she returned to the first floor and went in search of their hostess. "Ilona, I need a favour, do you have any spare costumes with you?"

"Of course I do, why?"

"I think I just spotted someone I know at the party, can I borrow something different that this?"

"Sure, let's go see what we can find."

Ilona had brought a whole trunk of assorted costumes and they quickly found a long burgundy crushed velvet dress with a red lace jacket. She even had a wig of long black curls that completely changed Arianna's appearance.

When they left Ilona's dressing room, she asked, "Who is it you're after?"

"My favourite Goth?."

"Well, whoever it is, enjoy yourself."

"I intend to, thanks." Ari smiled and started up the stairs. When she snuck back through the secret panel of the musician's balcony and scanned the crowd below she frowned. The mystery guest was nowhere to be seen. Beginning to wonder if she'd really seen him after all, she descended the hidden stairs and returned to the party.

"Did you find him?" She heard Ilona's voice behind her.

"Who?" Arianna turned.

"Whoever you were going to surprise."

"No, when I came back here, he was gone - I must have been mistaken, it's been a long day and I'm a bit tired."

"Well, don't give up yet, you never know who you'll find behind the masks at midnight."

Traditionally Ilona's parties continued through the night, ending with breakfast the next morning. Arianna stayed for the unmasking but still there was no sign of him. Tired and disappointed, she said her goodnights and retired to her room. Opening the door, she felt the shiver again and looked around to find the balcony doors open. There were candles flickering on the mantelpiece and on the table beside the bed was an ice bucket chilling a bottle of red wine, and two glasses.

As she stepped out onto the balcony that overlooked the rose garden, a tall figure moved from the shadows and lightly touched her shoulder. She turned to see him and couldn't believe her eyes. The costume was incredible, if not for the tingling sensation from his touch and the deep unmistakable green eyes, she'd hardly have recognised him.

"It's time to take off your mask," she whispered, lightly stroking the side of his face.

"And you know I like you better with your own hair," he murmured, carefully taking off the wig of long black curls and dropping it onto the desk as he led her back into the room.

* * *

Arianna woke to the feel of sunlight streaming through the velvet drapes onto her face. Stretching lazily, she rolled over to find the other half of the bed empty. She sat up quickly and looked around the room in confusion. There were no candles on the mantle, and no icebucket on the bedside table. Everything was just as it had been when she left for the party last evening, except for the black wig laying on the writing desk. *I know I didn't imagine he was here* she thought, but there were no signs of him. Climbing out of the high bed, she pulled on her robe and fished her cellphone out of her purse, a recording stated that the number she had dialed was out of service. *Where are you Julian?*

* * *

Most of the guests had departed after breakfast early Sunday morning. By the time Arianna came downstairs with her overnight bag, there were only a few stragglers left behind.

"Leaving us already?" Ilona asked as Arianna dropped her bag in the hallway.

"I want to get back home," she said looking around rather nervously.

"At least have some breakfast before you go," she offered a cup of tea.

"No thanks, I'm not very hungry."

"Ari, what's wrong?"

"I can't explain, it's just...." she led Ilona over to a private corner away from the other guests "Did you see Julian here last night?"

"Julian?"

"Yes, remember when I borrowed your costume? I left it on the bed upstairs by the way. Anyway, it was because I thought I'd seen him at the party. When I went back to surprise him, he was gone, but then when I went to bed, he was there in my room. This morning there's no trace of his having been here. I couldn't have imagined it all."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, I didn't see him, but that doesn't prove he wasn't here. Have you tried calling him?"

"I did, but it says the number is out of service. Thanks for a great party, but I'm going to head for home and find out what is going on."

"Right, well drive safely and give my best to him when you find him. And don't wait until next year to come see me. Drop in next time you're in the UK." Ilona hugged her goodbye and went back to the other guests.

* * *

With just a little creative speeding, Arianna was able to shave almost half an hour off the ride home. Traffic was light, and everyone else was also doing slightly over the posted limits. When she turned into the driveway there was a strange car parked next to Julian's. As she got out of the car, a man in a black raincoat stepped around from the river side of the house and came toward her, holding out a badge folder and identifying himself as Detective Lewis.

"What's happened?" she asked anxiously.

"Do you live here?"

"Yes, well, sort of. Where's Julian? What's happened?" she repeated.

"I don't know exactly, he's been taken to the hospital, the ambulance just left. We had an anonymous call about forty-five minutes ago, someone passing by thought they heard a gunshot, and when we got here to investigate, we found him unconscious on the back deck. There was no trace of a gun. It looks like he tried to walk through the sliding glass door. Can you come inside with me and take a quick look to see if anything has been disturbed? Then I'll follow you to the hospital."

"Of course."

Her hands were shaking as she tried to get the key into the side door. At first glance everything looked normal in the living room, except for an overturned chair, and the shattered glass on the deck, but it all felt awfully wrong. The kitchen was as usual, as was Julian's library. Cautiously leading the way upstairs, Detective Lewis waved that it was all clear and Arianna followed him to find a disaster area in the bedroom. The bedpillows had been slashed and the filling scattered all over the room. Everything had been knocked off the bedside tables onto the floor and the dresser drawers stood open. Carefully picking their way to the closet, they found even more destruction. Julian's clothes were disorganised but intact, most of Arianna's were torn to shreds.

"I'll have to send a photographer in to get some evidence photos if that's alright with you," the detective asked. "This doesn't look like your normal burglary."

"Yes, whatever." Arianna was barely hearing what he said, her mind was scrambling to make any sense of the mess. "I want to go to the hospital now."

Noticing how visibly shaken she was he took her arm and led her downstairs, saying, "Of course, I'll drive you."

* * *

"Can you think of anyone that would do this sort of thing?" he asked as they drove through the downtown streets. He'd put his flashing light atop the roof of the car so that traffic would give way.

"Uhm, no, I don't know." She mumbled. In the back of her mind, she could only think of one person, but she'd need to call the Quartermaster. Cabal personnel, even retired ones, were usually out of reach of police jurisdiction.

When they reached the hospital, Detective Lewis escorted her to the Intensive Care Trauma unit and found the resident in charge. "Doctor, how is he?" Arianna asked anxiously.

"Are you family?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

"His vital signs are stable now, but it's going to be a long while before he comes down. We've had to restrain him for his own safety."

"Comes down?" the detective asked.

"Yeah, he's high as a kite right now, the blood tests showed high levels of amphetamines. The glass cuts are just superficial, right now we're more worried about the drug overdose. He didn't have any identification on him, and we didn't have any medical records on file for the name the police found registered for the house, at present, he's admitted as a John Doe. I have to ask this, does he have a history of drug abuse?"

"No," Arianna answered strongly.

"Are you sure, he looked pretty strange when we found him?" the detective interrupted.

"I'm sure, can I see him please?"

"Of course, we've moved him to a private room where he could be restrained and isolated." The doctor started to lead her down the corridor before she remembered Detective Lewis.

"Uhm, I'll go phone headquarters and have the photographer sent to the house. If you want, I can have my cousin send somebody over to repair the glass door."

"Thank you, I'd appreciate it. We can straighten out anything else later."

"Well, I'll be in the waiting room when you're through."

They got to room 146 but before opening the door, the doctor stopped. "I just want to warn you, we had to restrain him, when he woke up in the ambulance he slugged one of the paramedics and tried to escape. He's been awake for awhile now, and should passout again soon, but in his present state of mind, he's dangerous, and may not recognise you. "

"I'll take that risk," she answered.

"Just ring the button on the wall if you need anything, I'll be on my rounds."

"Thank you."

Arianna cringed to see him 'restrained'. He was straining against the wide cloth straps holding both wrists and both ankles against the bed. Another strap was fastened across his chest. He shook his head back and forth mumbling things she couldn't understand. Most of the bandages were on his right forearm and she assumed that had taken the brunt of the glass window shards.

"Julian," she laid a hand on his arm. The face that turned toward her wasn't the Julian she knew, his eyes had a frightened, glazed look that didn't seem to focus on her at all.

"Have to get out of here......trying to kill......she's mad," he rambled. She sat down on the edge of the bed and held the sides of his face, forcing him to look at her.

"Julian, it's me Arianna, you're safe."

"She'll kill.......have to warn Ari."

"Julian I'm right here."

"No....not real....have to get out." With one more violent struggle against the restraints, he tore his head away from her hands then passed out as the doctor had predicted. When he was asleep, Arianna finally noticed his hair was darker than normal and remembered the detective's comment of him looking strange when they found him. She checked the closet in the room and found the shirt with the fancy buttons she remembered from last night, the right sleeve shredded and bloodstained. *Well, at least I'm not losing my mind, that's a small comfort, but why did you leave the party so early this morning?* she wondered. Smoothing his hair back off his damp forehead, she noticed a pinprick and scratch on the side of his neck. "Okay Julian, while you're quiet, let's see if we can find out what really happened."

Holding his hand in hers, she closed her eyes and tried to fight through the bizarre images he was imagining to get back to the Newport memories, but it was no use, the hallucinations were too strong. Strange images kept flashing before her, huge brightly coloured masks like she'd seen at Festival in Rio once, a black and white spiral spinning hypnotically, a huge grey rat with pointed fangs ready to attack, a fiery explosion, a white room with no furnishings, the grey rat again. A black raven swooped at her, a gunshot at point blank range, a huge Chinese new year dragon, the grey rat. She felt a sudden stabbing pain in her neck and jerked her hand away from his.

*A grey rat?* she puzzled, rubbing the spot on her neck that corresponded to the pinprick on Julian's neck.

* * *

Still confused and worried, she found Detective Lewis in the waiting area, looking at the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. He looked up as she sat down beside him. "How is he?"

"Asleep at the moment," she sighed.

"I have to ask some questions for my report, would you like a cup of coffee?"

"I'd prefer tea, black with sugar, thanks."

"I'll be right back." He stood and headed off in the direction of the cafeteria, while Arianna reached into her bag for her phone and dialed headquarters. Not quite sure how to handle the local constabulary's interference, she wanted to check in with the Quartermaster before answering any questions.

"Yes, he's right here," she said as he returned and handed her a Styrofoam cup. "Our employer might be able to answer some of your questions." She handed him the phone and cautiously took a sip, expecting it to be hotter than it actually was.

"Yes but..... No, of course not.......Yes ma'am........ Full co-operation, of course...... I understand completely...... Thank you." He closed the flip phone and handed it back to Arianna with a rather stunned expression. "It seems, I have no questions to ask, and no report to fill out after all. I like this, my typing skill is limited to about 6 words an hour," he smiled.

"So, what do we do now?" Arianna asked him as she put the phone back into her bag.

"Well, as of now, I'm officially off duty - whoever that was on the phone is going to arrange for me to be on special undercover assignment. I'm at your disposal to try and help find out what happened to....who is he?"

"Julian. And you can stop wondering, the hospital records will be taken care of as well."

"I see, where do we start?"

"Can your cousin repair the door? We need to secure the house for the night."

"Yes, he thinks it's a stock size door, he said to call him when we left here and he'll meet us there to install it."

"Good, I want to go back over the house with a fine tooth comb, whoever slashed my clothes must have been waiting for Julian when he got home from Newport. They must have surprised him and shot him full of the drugs pretty quickly or there would have been signs of a struggle. He's asleep now, can you take me back to the house? I'll get my car and come back later."

* * *

While the handyman removed the broken door frame and fitted the new panel into the sliding door tracks, Arianna and Detective Lewis took a closer look at the bedroom. Now that it was no longer a police matter, the photographer had been called off and they were free to disturb the evidence. She found the black velvet gothic jacket under a pile of pillow fluff and located a hanger for it in the closet. Apparently, he'd come home before the slashing began.

On the floor over the far side of the bed was a tipped over storage box. Setting it back on top of the bed, she picked up it's spilled contents, black leather pants, a blue satin shirt, some chunky silver chain jewelry, and white silk shirt with long full sleeves. Just under the edge of the bed, she found a black velvet drawstring bag containing a black satin scarf and a pair of medieval looking handcuffs, as well as a pair of gold hoop earrings connected by a fine chain about a foot long. Suddenly not so sure she wanted to find out more about Julian's 'Goth' days, she closed the bag and buried it under the clothes in the box.

In the bathroom the detective found a box of temporary hair colouring, a bottle of black nail varnish and jar of glitter. "This isn't your colour is it?" he asked curiously, bringing the bottle out to the bedroom.

"We were at a fancy dress party last night."

"Oh, okay. I was told not to ask for explanations."

"I appreciate your help, really."

"Hey Lou, all set." They heard the handyman call up the stairs. Detective Lewis went to the top of the stairs and thanked him, then came back to find Arianna blankly stuffing gobs of pillow fluff back into a pillowcase. He looked at his watch, it was almost 9pm.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be anything conclusive here, it obviously is someone with a grudge against you, but why? Are you alright?"

"Yes, uhm, I don't know, something just feels wrong. I need to get back to the hospital."

"Right, well, the house is secure now, I guess that's all we can do until he comes out of it. You still look a bit shaky, are you sure you're up to driving?"

"I'm fine. Go home. I'll call you if we find anything."

* * *

When she returned to the hospital, she found the ICU ward in a state of mild panic. The resident she'd spoken to earlier rushed down the hall to meet her.

"Miss MacDuff, I'm so sorry, we've lost him."

Instantly, she felt as though her blood turned to icewater and the words caught in her throat. "You can't mean...."

"No, no sorry, we've actually lost,.....I mean..... he's missing."

"Missing?"

"He woke up, and was fairly lucid, rational even. He convinced the orderly on duty to loosen the restraints and the next thing we knew, the orderly was found strapped to the bed and your friend was gone. We've searched every inch of the hospital but he's nowhere to be found. Security is checking to see if any cars have been stolen from the parking garage, but it's hard to tell. I can't believe he could have gotten out of the hospital without anyone seeing him."

"I can, he can be very clever when he wants to be. Based on the amount of drugs you found in his system, will he stay awake or is he apt to pass-out again?"

"It's hard to predict, everyone's constitution handles substances differently. My guess is that he'll be in and out of it for another 12 hours at least."

"Oh great, now all I have to do is figure out where he'd go."

"Oh, and there's a message for you at the desk from someone named Blue."

"Why did he? Oh damn, I forgot my phone back at the house."

"Here, take mine, you can bring it back tomorrow," the young doctor offered. "Your friend took his own clothes, so someone's bound to notice the torn shirtsleeve if he goes anywhere public, though I know that doesn't help much."

"You're right, it doesn't," she called back as she hurried down the corridor toward the exit. Once in her car, she dialed the number for Gervase Blue.

"Gervase, it's Arianna......... she what?........ how the hell........... it looks like we've heard from her already, somebody shot Julian full of drugs and tore up most of my clothes, now he's escaped from the hospital and who knows where he is........ Well, thanks for the warning, even if it is too late."

She turned the key and started the engine, but had no idea where to begin looking. With both hands on the steering wheel she closed her eyes for a moment and leaned her forehead against it murmuring to herself, "Julian where are you?" Suddenly, she felt a strange tingle at the back of her neck and the image of the grizzly bear statue he'd shown her formed in her mind. *Well, it's as good a place as any to start* she supposed. The grounds of PepsiCo were only about a 20 minute drive from the hospital. If he'd stolen a car, he could have gotten there without encountering much traffic, which was a good thing, she told herself. The idea of a strung-out Julian behind the wheel of a car scared her more than she cared to admit.

* * *

The corporate headquarters had lights strategically placed around the lake to highlight the statuary and pathways, but in the moonless night they didn't help much. Driving slowly around the lake, she couldn't see any trace of him, but the strange sensation was stronger than before and she breathed easier with the realisation that he was here, somewhere.

When she reached the parking lot nearest the head of the lake, she spotted two cars, one was at the far end of the lot, probably a night security guard or janitor. The other was left with the driver's door open. Parking next to it, she peeked inside. It was running, but had no keys. *So, he knows how to hot-wire a car when needed* she thought. She pulled the wires apart to stop the engine and locked the car door just in case he didn't recognise her and tried to run.

The small flashlight in her glovebox finally came in useful as she made her way along the gravel pathway. When she turned the corner in sight of the bear, she thought she saw a movement near it and hurried on toward the massive black carving. *Julian?* she thought to him, but there was no response. Just as she got close enough to see him sprawled at the base of the statue, the light failed and she stumbled in the darkness. "Damn," she uttered. After a hard shake, the light flickered back on, but dimly. Running the rest of the way up the path, she found him laying on the grass, asleep again, and shivering. She knelt beside him and tried to wake him but it was no use, and he was dead weight, until he at least came to, there was no way she could carry him, and the night was only going to get colder.

Sitting on the ground with his head in her lap, she thought of going back to the car to call for help. He was quiet at the moment, but if he woke up and wandered off while she was out of sight, there were several acres of grounds to search. Afraid to leave him, but knowing she had to do something, she took off her jacket and was wrapping it around him for a little added warmth when behind her she heard a loud snap. Turning toward the noise, she saw a grey figure run out of the darkness directly toward them mumbling, "can't have him, no-one else will." Ari ducked and rolled into the path of her attacker just in time to avoid the knife thrust aimed at her back. The figure stumbled and fell head first against the marble statue with a sickening thud and crumpled to the ground.

Scrambling to her feet, Arianna rushed over to the still form and kicked the knife away before rolling it over to see that it was indeed Dr. Klaus. Even in the dim light from her failing flashlight, she could see that the injury to the woman's forehead left little hope of survival. After checking for, but not finding, any pulse she whispered, "One dead rat with pointy teeth."

"No.... have to warn...... get out....... going to kill," Julian began to stir and mumble again.

"Julian, wake up, it's me." She shook him hard. Before opening his eyes, he responded with his left fist, catching her on the side of the face and knocking her onto the grass beside him. "Oww," she cried, sitting up and shaking her head.

"Wha..... what?" He looked around blearily, not entirely focused as she got back to her feet.

"Come on slugger, we have to get out of here." Clumsily, she got him at least onto his feet and propped up against the statue while she draped his arm around her shoulder so she could partly drag, and partly carry him back to the car.

"Where .... we going?" he slurred when they got to the parking lot.

"Home," Arianna answered, opening the car door.

"Oh... good." With that, he passed out again and fell in a limp heap onto the back seat. She found a blanket in the boot of the car and threw it over him before stopping to catch her breath, then picked up the borrowed phone to call Gervase again. Within twenty minutes, the clean up crew arrived to quietly 'dispose of the inconvenience' as he put it. He was still somewhat embarrassed that Klaus had been able to escape from the company spa. As soon as she saw things were safely under control, Arianna told them about the stolen car, and took her sleeping patient home.

When they turned into the drive, it was like deja-vu. The same car was parked next to Julian's as had been earlier in the afternoon. But this time, it was a relief to see Detective Lewis step out of it in the light from her headlights.

"What are you doing here? It must be nearly midnight." she asked him.

"I called the hospital to check up on the two of you, and they told me what happened. I didn't know what to do to help, but thought eventually he might come back here, so I waited."

"Well, I'm glad to see you, can you help me get him inside?" Between the two of them, they managed to carry the unconscious Julian upstairs and deposit him onto the guestroom bed. When Arianna straightened up, Det. Lewis saw the purple bruise on her cheek.

"Who gave you the shiner?" he asked.

"He did." She nodded at Julian as she covered him with a duvet. "How about a cup of coffee?"

"I'd love it." As they went down to the kitchen he asked, "Can you tell me how you found him?"

She laughed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, it's over now, just let it go at that."

"Oh darn, that means I have to go back to work tomorrow."

"Sorry about that." Over their coffees, Arianna learned a little more about Detective Louis Lewis. He'd been a policeman 24 years, worked his way up from traffic patrol through vice, fraud and now homicide. Four years ago, after his wife died, he'd transferred out from Los Angeles for a quieter lifestyle. Something he mentioned briefly about a special assignment he'd had once before reinforced Arianna's instinct that they could trust him. Even with their Cabal resources, it might be useful to have an ally on the local force, just for back up.

"Will you be okay here alone with him?" he asked when she took their empty cups to the sink.

"I think so, he seemed to calm down the last time he woke up, I think the drugs are wearing off."

"Okay, but if you need me, anytime, just call."

"Thanks Lew, I will." She saw him to the door, then locked up for the night and went upstairs. Now that it was all over, she was too tired to bother getting undressed and just lay down to keep watch over him in the guest room.

* * *

Sometime in the early morning, the image of the hypnotic spiral turned into a leaf floating on a pond, and the black raven changed to a white swan. Julian rolled over from his fitful sleep and began to snore lightly. Arianna had caught herself dosing off a few times in the night but now that she sensed he was past the worst of the nightmares, she couldn't sleep. After a long hot shower, she went to see what she could salvage from the closet. Very glad that she'd kept her favourite travelling clothes packed for short notice trips, she found little else that was still intact, Dr. Klaus had been thorough in her madness.

Finding a pair of jeans that had missed slashing, she pulled them on and just out of curiosity picked up the white silk shirt from the storage box. The fabric felt wonderful as she dropped it over her head. Cut in buccaneer fashion, it had long billowy sleeves and a wide collar. After the party in Newport, she could almost envision Julian wearing it with the black leather pants.

When she turned toward the tall mirror, her reflection almost made her laugh out loud. She didn't quite have a black eye, but the bruise on her cheekbone nearly matched the dark red DaVinci colour of her fake nails. She was somewhat amazed that they'd survived last night's adventure without breaking.

"Bloody hell - what happened?" She turned from the mirror to see him holding the doorframe with one hand, and his forehead with the other, swaying slightly.

"You don't know?" she smiled rather furtively at being caught in his shirt and brushed aside more of the pillow fluff on the bed. "Come sit before you fall down."

"I haven't the foggiest," he answered moving to the bed. "The last thing I remember, I came home and went into the bathroom, and that's it, the rest is just a jumble, and my head feels bloody awful."

"Well, it serves you right for sneaking away from the party like that. You almost had me thinking I'd imagined it all." He looked at the stains and tears on his shirtsleeve and frowned.

"Seriously, what happened?" Ari moved the storage box and sat facing him on the foot of the bed.

"Dr. Klaus got away from her confinement and came after us. She must have broken in and been waiting here when you got home. After she drugged you, it looks like you went through the glass door onto the deck. Then she turned slasher."

"What happened to your eye?"

"You didn't recognise me last night," she shrugged.

"Oh lord, I'm sorry." He lightly stroked the side of her cheek. "Does it hurt?"

"Not bad, I don't think you were at full strength when I found you."

"Found me? Tell me the rest."

She nonchalantly picked up the velvet bag with the blindfold and handcuffs and grinned, "Maybe later, when you tell me the truth about why you don't do Goth."

Next chapter: The Root of Her Fear