Sylvie

Without thinking about it, Sylvie had breezed out of the two small cities and onto the quiet rural route that headed east towards Virginia Beach.  She didn’t like that somehow she’d gotten into an auto-pilot mode and while her bike slipped through traffic with the greatest of ease, Sylvie decided to focus on the little newscast that Alan had presented her before she left. “Code?”

“Query?” Was the immediate answer from the AI.

“Strange news, starting with the video game death a few days ago.”  Sylvie slipped between a pair of slow moving cars and chuckled to herself. “Put up a time to arrive in the display, please.”

“Added features on the display will affect vision by two percent, delaying the arrival by..”  Code stopped when Sylvie spoke again.

“Fine.  Give me an update between the strange articles you find.”  Sylvie sighed and passed a semi that was also going over the speed limit.  Glowing softly within her display, Sylvie kept the tachometer from going into the red while maintaining the speed she had told Code she’d be doing. “I am terrible at math, Code.  Can you tell me how long on average we will be on the road?”

“Not accounting for construction or weather, the trip from start to finish takes forty-five minutes.”  Code stopped for a moment, “Strange news.  Boston, Massachusetts..”

Laughing to herself for the lack of detail, Sylvie stopped the little computer. “..Keep the strange news within an area of fifty miles around my home, including Richmond.” Ignoring a red proximity warning, Sylvie took great pleasure in testing her reflexes by narrowly going past a car that had merged into her lane without any indication that it would happen. “Restart Strange News.”

“Beginning with video game death.”  Code paused, “Associated Press release.  College student dies playing a video game non-stop for over one hundred and twenty-five hours.  Initial report cites dehydration as the cause.”  Code paused. “Unused eyewitness account of the person’s eyes wide open and completely black.  Unused description, Black lines covered the male subject’s cheeks as though he was crying.  No further report.”

-Alan, why is this so important to you and how the hell is this my problem?-

Sylvie circled her way onto another strip of highway and gunned her motorcycle once more.  Merging into the six lane highway, she whizzed by the small pack of trucks and cars that built up near the entrance ramp.  “Code, keep going.”

“Associated Press with conjunction of Chesterfield and Richmond police task force, still warning citizens about the need to travel in groups of two or more while ‘The Cross Killer’ is still at large.”

“Code, give me more on the Cross Killer.  I don’t know the reference.”  Sylvie knew she got a little too close to a mirror on a car when her leather jacket almost wrapped itself around an egg like protrusion then snapped back into place.  Moments later, her HUD began giving orange alerts for the first construction zone.

-Let’s get crazy.- 

Timing so that she found a break in the metal road barrier, Sylvie angled her heavy duty machine so that she ended up on the other side of the road with oncoming traffic.  While able to swing and maneuver through the rushing traffic coming at her, Sylvie didn’t want to take the chance that she would scare the drivers any more than necessary and decided to stay in the small emergency lane.  With the help of the HUD, Sylvie knew down to the yard where the construction zone would end and open road in her direction would be available.

“Cross Killer.  Named for the fascination of the murderer to affix his or her victims on a crucifix.  Currently twelve deaths are associated.  Deemed Serial killer.”  Code stopped reporting, “Estimated fifteen minutes to Virginia Beach City limits.  Total current travel time, thirty minutes.  Adjusted for avoidance of construction zones.”

Finally back on her side of the highway, Sylvie hadn’t realized how fast time had passed.  Leaning her bike low and to the right, she took the final exit and onto the straight section of the highway that would take her directly to the oceanfront. “So much fun.  Code, keep going.”  Sylvie paused, “Delay that, do you have the ability to call someone?”

“Phone communication availability via the Internet is possible.  Query?”  Code waited for input.

Sylvie didn’t hesitate, “Jennifer Rivers.  I need to speak to her.”  Less than thirty seconds passed before Sylvie heard the worried voice of a mother.

“Sylvie? The caller ID only gave your initials.. SM.  I almost didn’t pick up.  Please tell me it’s you.”  Jennifer’s voice sounded desperate.

“Yes, Miss Rivers.  I am nearly in Virginia Beach.  I am headed to where I think Casey is, I got…well.. a feeling.”  Sylvie slowed down to a normal speed when the highway stopped and turned to a two lane road. “I think she is visiting a grave site, someone named Linda Stone.”

Sighing deeply, Jennifer’s voice softened with the familiar sound of the vampire on the other end. “She’s been gone for about a day.  I don’t know where she even slept last night.”  Jennifer paused, “Oh, Linda.  That was her college roommate.  I was so worried, but afraid to contact the police given her past with them.”  A long silence made the call almost uncomfortable. “Sylvie, take care of my baby.  She’s going through something, and she’s not telling me everything.  Maybe she will open up to you.”

“When I find her, I will do as you ask.”  Sylvie stopped at a stop sign, “I might have to get her out of Virginia Beach, will that bother you?”  Looking both ways, Sylvie turned right and followed the night vision into a darker part of the Beach. “So many memories here for her to process.”

Jennifer took another long breath, “Sylvie, it doesn’t bother me at all.  Things with her changed the night she met Vivienne.  It’s almost like she doesn’t belong in the normal world anymore.”  Sniffling and clearing her throat, Jennifer added, “I am alright with her decisions, they aren’t mine to make.  Just…just make sure my daughter is..”  

“Like you said, I will take care of her the best I can.”  Sylvie idled her way to one of the cemetery’s closed gates. “Martin will be there to collect her things and take them to my house, if that is alright with you?” 

“That is fine, Sylvie.  Really she didn’t have anything except a small bag and one suitcase.  It was like she didn’t intend to stay anywhere long.”  Jennifer cautiously mentioned. “You don’t think she is going to hurt herself, do you?”

Sylvie took a deep breath and shut off her motorcycle. “I won’t let that happen.  Jennifer, I am at the gate now, let me take care of this.”  She waited for a polite goodbye before she asked ‘Code’ to disconnect the call.

“Arrived at the requested destination.  One female human subject is detected beyond the gate.  Vital statistics available upon request.” Code fell silent.

Unstrapping her helmet and placing it on the deep blue gas tank of her bike, Sylvie smiled at the little icon blinking quietly in her vision. “Thank you for your assistance, I think you should power down at this point.”  Sylvie spoke to her AI friend as though it were alive.  Fluffing out her blue-gray short hair, Sylvie waited a few seconds as the lenses powered down.

Guessing that the iron gate and accompanying cement wall were roughly thirty feet high, Sylvie half-crouched and vertically leapt over the arrow pointed gate and landed without a sound on the other side.

Making her way silently to where her vision showed her, Sylvie’s hidden third eye opened and matched the premonition with the present.  Squatting down in front of the polished stone, Sylvie set the pink granite that Amber gave her on the edge of the memorial. “Casey?”

Tossing back the thin hood that protected her curly auburn hair, Casey looked up into her friend's moon-shifting eyes. “S-Sylvie?  It’s really you.”  Casey wiped a few tears from her cheeks. “I don’t know what I am doing.”

Tucking a few strands of Casey’s hair behind her ears, Sylvie shrugged. “Not many of us do.”  She tried to lighten the mood, and pointed to the grave. “The simple answer is that you are paying respect to Linda.”  She paused for a breath, “Your mother said you hadn’t been back to her place for the last day or so. Tell me what’s going on.”  Having long sensed the presence of dried and fresh blood on Casey, Sylvie tilted her head and noticed that her friend’s blouse was mostly in ribbons with the wounds visible. “What happened here?”  Sylvie touched the thin fabric.