Not my business, not my problem.

I quickly made my way back into the receptionist area and sat down.

The J screen saver was on the computer. I clicked it on.

Internet!

No way

Almost too easy.

“I wouldn’t,” a chipper female voice said. “Then again, I always liked to push his buttons too.”

I glanced up from the screen and came face to face with the most gorgeous elderly lady I’d ever seen in my entire life.

“Can I, uh, help you?”

“No.” Her smile was warm. “But I think I can help you—you’re my new replacement.”

“Oh.”

“One of thirty he’s had over the last two years.” Her shoulders shook with amusement. “Man can’t keep a woman to save his life.” And then she burst out laughing as if it was the funniest thing in the world. “And you’d think with those looks, that brain, that body.” She fanned herself and peeked down the hall. “Still at it, huh?”

“Um, first of the day. Who did you say you were?”

“A friend.” She smiled and held out her hand. “You can call me Jaclyn, or just Jac for short.”

“Jac.” I repeated shaking her soft hand. The woman had more diamonds decorating her fingers than what seemed possible. Each of them sparkled as if telling their own story of love and riches. “So, I’m the thirtieth intern huh?”

“Is that what he told you?”

“Not exactly.”

“Intern.” She chuckled. “Has a nice ring to it. Has he texted you yet?”

“No, but—”

“He will, he always does. Only had to use the black box once.” She nodded, and her eyes fell. “But that was a long, long time ago.”

“Um—”

“Oh!” She clapped her hands together, making her entire outfit shake. Wait, was she wearing bells or something? I stood and looked over the counter. The woman couldn’t be any taller than five-foot-one. She had red cowboy boots with bells on the tassels and skinny jeans matched with a white sweater. What should have looked stupid looked classy and stylish, like she’d just walked out of Urban Outfitters. Huh. “Why don’t I show you the schedule?”

“Alright, but Nikolai didn’t say—”

“Nikolai?” Her lips pressed together. “That’s allowed then?”

“What is?”

“His first name.”

“Apparently.”

“You must be special.” She smiled brighter. “I’m the only one who calls him by that… then again I’m also the only one who’s ever seen the man behind the mask.”

“So there’s two of them?” I joked.

“Oh, yes.” She nodded seriously. “Never forget how important it is to separate the two. Here he’s a god.”

“As opposed to?”

“Anywhere else…” She placed her hand on mine and squeezed. “He’s just a man. Never forget that, sweetheart.”

With that, she released my hand and waved at her eyes as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

“Goodness, my emotions get me these days. Now, let’s look at that schedule, and I’ll try to sort out any questions you may have before that elusive text comes through.”

“And then what?”

“What dear?”

“After the text?”

“Oh, you bring in the next girl.”

“Are they…” I swallowed. “Prostitutes?”

“Labels really do nothing for me.” She shrugged again and pulled out a chair plopping right next to me. “If you’re really good, tomorrow morning I’ll bring you a latte, what’s your favorite?”

“Anything with caffeine.”

She paused, her eyes getting misty again. “I do hope you last, dear.”

“And the others? They quit?”

Her eyes fell to the keyboard as she pulled a hanky from her purse and blew her nose. “Now, the schedule…”

Stay inside, Police Chief Lopez advises. He believes that the Pier killer is preying on women who are prone to leave work late or who work alone. Stay inside, until the security from your building is able to escort you out—only if you are working late.—The Seattle Tribune

INCREDIBLE… HOW HABITUAL MY ACTIVITIES HAD become. I felt nothing. Even when the blood dripped down her arm, I could only glance at the red pigment and wonder what type it was.

Would it be O Negative?

AB positive?

Would taking that blood bring me any closer to a cure? Or would darkness finally consume me—making it so that my habit, my life choices, ended up killing me like they killed so many that I studied?

Her face was void of emotion.

I imagined she had a few more weeks tops.

And then she would be dead like the rest of them. I had known something was wrong with me long before medical school… long before working on the cadavers or losing my first patient in the OR.

I wiped my hands on the towel and injected flumazenil back into her system. Natalia jerked awake.

“All done?”

“Yes.” I offered a smile. “The sores should disappear within a few hours, do try to be careful out there tonight.”

“Always am.” Her lower lip trembled just enough for me to notice. “Hey um doc?”

“Yes Natalia?”

“How long?”

“Well…” I leaned forward. “That’s entirely up to you. You’ve known that since you started coming to the clinic.”

Her eyes wavered as she chewed on her lower lip. “I still haven’t decided yet, what I want to do.”

“When the time comes, I’ll ask you again, only you can make that choice, Natalia.”

With a quick nod, she hopped off the table and made her way to the door. “The new girl…” Her hand hovered above the door knob. “She’s pretty.”

I sighed. “All the nurses I hire are pretty.”

“Right, but she isn’t a nurse, she isn’t one of us.”

I was quiet for a minute. Leave it to Natalia to figure out that Maya was different. She was beautiful like the rest, just more… pure and innocent in ways Natalia would never understand.

“No.” I didn’t owe her any more of an answer or explanation.

“I hope she stays that way.” Natalia’s voice was hardly a whisper. “I really do.”

“Me too.” I hoped it more than I could possibly describe. It was why I put certain terms in my contract. Why she was off limits. Why I was off limits to her. I was trying to decide her life for her, form an ironclad path for her to walk through so she made it through alive.

So she made it to her next birthday without becoming exactly what her father would want for her.

Because regardless of Maya not remembering.

She was still a liability, one he kept around for leverage on my behalf.

“Have a good evening, Natalia.”

She left.

And the room instantly felt cold.

I wondered how long I could keep it up—before the darkness of my reality consumed me. After all, I wasn’t really living for anything except trying to leave a better mark on the world. A legacy. That’s what I wanted.

And after knowing what ran through my veins?

It was about damn time someone in our family tried for something different.

Blood had always stained our hands.

I’d still die with it on mine—but hopefully it wouldn’t be in vain.

An enemy will agree, but a friend will argue—Russian Proverb

HE TEXTED EXACTLY NINETY MINUTES LATER; his instructions were clear.

N: Bring in the next one, I’ll be finished in five.

I felt my eyebrows furrow in confusion. What next one? Jac had been showing me how to do the scheduling for the past hour and a half, not that any of that made sense. There were names and contact numbers, but no last names, and no private information about their conditions.