Dance with Darkness - Ghost Dance

Chapter 9

Hi.  Super long chapter, I've worked really hard on this one so I hope you all enjoy it.  :)  The music to the side is what I kind of imagine the music for the dance (not the performance) to be.  I'd also be grateful for any comments so I can improve in my writing.  As always, thanks for reading.

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Whether for better or worse, Monday night and all of Tuesday passed as uneventfully as they could in my circumstances, and the evening of the Geisha Gala was upon me much sooner than I’d anticipated.  I found myself standing in the foyer of the Hearne mansion that evening, waiting as the other hunters finished getting ready.

It was strange to see them in something other than their dark-colored gym attire.  The men wore simple suits and crisp white dress shirts, while the women wore colorful dresses.  I was actually the least fancy of anyone—even Nakoma in her leathers and furs, who had criticized my plain blue outfit with a look that spoke far louder than words.

There wasn’t much talking.  The past two nights working with the Amethyst Team had been disappointing in terms of results, and morale was a little low.  The hunters’ trips to Tír na nÓg had failed to lead to any clues, and the team was beginning to doubt an answer would ever be found at this rate, especially since not even Nakoma, the great demon hunter of her time, had found an answer to the nearly identical case so many years ago.  In addition, Dracule Moldovan’s secrecy after the crime scene had become so severe that the hunters, who already resented being left out of the loop, were beginning to suspect he was deliberately hiding an important clue to the case.  The more the vampire claimed the secrecy was for his associates’ safety, the less the hunters believed him.

The only change in the investigation was brought about by Nakoma herself, who after leaving me in the rain Monday afternoon had continued to research on her own.  She had decided that the present cases might be similar to those during the Revolution, but not necessarily carried out by the same person, as the original case had seen a different color of the mysterious slime coating the vampire bodies.  When Nakoma had been alive, the slime had been brownish in color, while now it was gray.

This theory only provided more confusion, however, as no one could figure a reason for copying such strange murders from so long ago, or how the killer could even have learned how to decay the bodies in the same way.

“There’s nowhere to hide my gun,” Chase complained, breaking the silence in the foyer.  Turning from the window, I looked over to see him trying to stuff the weapon under his jacket.

“You can’t bring that to the gala, Chase,” Evanna chided as she fastened a silver pendant around her neck.  “We’re pushing the limit just being there as it is.  If we bring weapons, too, the guests will have a fit.”  She indicated the ghost ring on his right hand.  “Silver is the best defense we have—it can pass for platinum.”

Chase scowled, his reddish-brown eyebrows pulling together in a frown.  “If we had sweats, we could smuggle a few stakes in, at least.”

“And we’d be able to run without tripping,” another team member, Diane, added.  For a supposedly agile and skilled first-class hunter, I thought she looked a bit unsteady in her high heels.  “But we have to work with what we’re given.  This is an opportunity to delve into the vampire world and find anyone connected to the Decayer Case.”

I looked down at the ghost ring encircling my right ring finger and twisted it nervously.  If I had known about the silver, I would have been sure to wear more of it.  Why hadn’t Nakoma said anything beforehand?  How was I supposed to know whether the stories about vampires and their weakness to silver were true or not?