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Chapter 5

Monday, 27th May 1994

It was bright noon in the Swedish-French Woods. Inside the lodge, Gabriel twisted and turned in his bed.

The dream had started with him floating in the darkness above a huge beating heart. Its thick veins and arteries extended outwards, away from Gabriel's sight, and he could see the purple of the blood change into red at each slow pulse. There was no sound, but every beat seemed to resonate inside his own chest.

While quietly watching the reassuring sight, Gabriel caught a glitter of something that hadn't been there a moment before. He floated closer to get a better look. It appeared to be a drop of some shining liquid flowing through one of the veins. As the drop was aspired inside the heart, Gabriel felt a sting, like the one in his paw when he had stepped on the silver fang. More and more drops of the metallic liquid kept coming through the vein, joining into large shiny globes, sneaking inside with the purple blood.

The huge heart skipped a beat. All his attention drawn to the constant flow of the deadly substance, Gabriel didn't notice this until the unexpected heavy throb made him start. He looked to where red oxygenated blood was supposed to come out, but shrank away when he saw the foul silver that radiated from the arteries. He could do nothing but watch as the substance slowly smeared its way along with red blood towards the rest of the body.

The heart was straining to transport the viscous silver blood that pumped into it from all over, growing thicker by every minute. It started to beat slower and slower until it just stopped.

Gabriel woke up, his own heart pounding away like mad. He pushed his wet hair away from his forehead and stood up in bed to catch his breath.

All right... only a dream...

Just then, a muffled cry seemed to come from the direction of Friederich's room. Gabriel held his breath and listened. As he started to doubt his hearing, his ears caught another distant shout.

He jumped out from the bed and collided with the door. He tossed it aside and hesitated only a split-second before he stormed into Friederich's room.

Friederich was lying on the side of his huge king-size bed where Gabriel had left him after their return from last night's hunt. He had seemed peaceful enough then. Pretending not to notice Gabriel's obvious uneasiness, he had faked sleep almost at once.

But something was definitely wrong with Friederich. And if Gabriel hadn't snuck an easy way out of the room and of facing the morning's insanity, he would have realized it even then. His friend lay curled on the bed, his back to the door, panting heavily. Just as Gabriel was standing in the doorway, unsure about what he should do, Friederich let out a small heart-gripping moan. Gabriel was by his side in no time.

He almost didn't recognize the handsome face he had so deliriously looked upon only few hours before. It was covered in sweat and wore a strained expression of inside illness. His gaze kept moving around unfocused. When he finally became aware of Gabriel's presence, he made a weak attempt to lift his head. Gabriel stopped him gently.

"Don't waste your strength."

Friederich fell back to the crumpled pillow with a sigh.

Gabriel knelt by the bed and grabbed his friend's hand. It felt cold and shaky. Swayed by impulse, he turned it over and searched the inside of the wrist for a visible sign of the dreaded silver glow. There wasn't any.

Of course there isn't. Stop this, it was only a freakin' dream, He must be ill from the wound...

He lowered his mouth to Friederich's ear. "Don't go anywhere, I'll go call 911 or somethin' and I'll be right back."

"No!!" Friederich managed to shout as Gabriel was halfway towards the door. "Come... back..."

Gabriel reluctantly returned to the side of the bed. His friend was struggling to whisper something. Gabriel leant closer to his mouth and caught two words that made his blood run cold.

"Silver... poisoned..."

Friederich fell back on the pillow and closed his eyes.

***

Meanwhile, not very far away, Grace was driving Gabriel's car at a slow, steady pace. She ignored the map spread all over the other seat and kept moving her gaze over both sides of the road.

It must be around here somewhere!! This is the only road through the hot area.

Ubergrau had been very helpful with narrowing down the area of the missing persons cases on the map, and a neat hand-drawn red ink circle was the result. Grace had decided to go on her own and find the place first, see if anyone lived there. No use in crying wolf unnecessarily.

And she was definitely not playing FBI again. Just a look around...

There it was!!

She had a weird feeling of deja-vu as she stood in the protecting shadow of a large tree in front of the second lodge, pondering her next move. Then she noticed a small thread of smoke rising from the chimney.

And so here my first quest ends...

She laughed nervously when she saw the grey metal letter-box.

Might as well deliver the mail... I didn't come over here for nothing.

She felt in her pocket and took out two letters. She opened the untidy envelope and looked at the crumpled, dirty, scribbled letter inside. She shook her head in contempt.

It was all written in capital letters, which for once was useful because otherwise she wouldn't have understood the spelling.

"Why didn't you show me Friederich's letter? I am old enough to choose for myself! See, I did anyway!" So you did... "So it's no use to keep it hidden anymore. Give it to me at once!!" Yeah? And where shall I address it, if I may ask?

"Don't come after me. I'm happy here and don't need you to spoil it." I'm already here, so what can you do about it? "I haven't felt so good and free since I was back in NO alone." And you've never been so stupid either.

"If you haven't got anything to do," Gee, thanks for caring, "why don't you go check out a guy called Dorn. Take Leber along or whatever. Dorn lives in Buchenau and he's a black market animal dealer. He's the one that smuggled the 2 Zoo wolves stolen by von Zell. That'll keep you busy for a few days." Leber and that useless officer of his will handle this... I have more important business at the moment.

"Have to go now," What, has Friederich just called you to table? Then hurry, blood coagulates pretty quickly.

"-Gabriel"

That was all. No apologies, no asking how she felt, no address.

Gabriel, your only pitiful excuse is that you just lost whatever small piece of brain you still had. And you're damned lucky that I have enough for both of us.

She rushed to the letter box, dropped the second letter, the one with the pompous seal, inside, and quickly turned to leave.

***

Upstairs, Friederich had plunged into a troubled sleep. Gabriel was pacing up and down through the room, trying to put his thoughts in order. It all came down to silver. His own nightmare, Friederich's words, the fang that had snapped off Ludwig's jaws...

He had had his fair share of horror werewolf stories in his childhood, where the brave saintly hero always finished off the bad wolf with a silver bullet. And he had never taken them seriously. But if the werewolf obviously existed, couldn't at least some of the lore going with it be real, too? Friederich had said "poisoned". Gabriel himself had been hurt when he had stepped on the silver fang...

His incessant to-and-fro-ing brought him in front of the window. What he saw outside made him rub his eyes and stare again.

This can't be happening... How the hell did she find us so soon?!

He practically flew down the stairs.

***

Grace was startled by the sharp sound of the door opening. She turned around and... there was Gabriel! Her carefully planned words scattered away and she just stood there, frozen on the spot.

"What the hell are you doin' here, Grace?" Gabriel shouted angrily. "I told you to stay out of my hair!"

By that time, Grace had pulled herself together. "I've come to take you home, Gabriel."

"I am home. I made my choice. What more do you want? Just leave me alone!!"

Grace's mind screamed at her to let go, leave and never return. But she couldn't. Not so easily. "It isn't too late to change your mind. At least tell me... you haven't tasted human blood yet, have you?" Her voice sounded frantic even to her own ears.

"And what if I have?" he muttered under his breath.

"Gabriel!! Stop playing and tell me!" Her anxiety was almost unbearable.

"I don't know why I'm tellin' you this but.. okay, I haven't... yet."

"Gabriel, what about the Schattenjaegers? And Rittersberg? And Wolfgang who gave his life to get back the talisman! Do you really mean to walk away from all of your duties?"

"I'm sick of duties! I didn't belong to myself anymore, Grace, I had to get away!"

Grace gave him a pleading look.

"All right, look, Gracie. I just need some time off, haven't really thought about the future. I tell you, I haven't felt so happy and free for a long time."

"And if a new Schattenjaeger case comes up?"

"We'll see about it then, won't we? You can always fill in my shoes, or so you kept naggin' me about, remember?"

"Of course I can, but... I'm only a good researcher, Gabriel. You are the one born with the supernatural in your blood. You are the Schattenjaeger - not I. You must come home with me. You'll see it clearly once you get there and away from von Glower."

She regretted saying that almost as soon as she finished the sentence.

"Leave Friederich out of this!! He's my friend, do you hear me?! My friend!! And even if pigs had wings and I would get away from this happy life and this fine place and Friederich, do you think I'd just turn my back on a helpless sick man? Come see for yourself!" He grabbed Grace by the arm and dragged her inside the lodge and up the stairs.

If Grace hadn't hated von Glower's guts she would have almost felt pity for the crouched figure on the bed. Friederich moaned in his sleep and Gabriel jumped at his side, kneeling by the bed.

"I'm here, Friederich, don't worry." He took his friend's hand between his soothingly, paying no more attention to Grace and the rest of the world.

Grace felt a pang at her heart while she watched the scene. The way he looked at von Glower... He had never looked at her like that. Her anger began to fade away and a numb sadness slowly filled its place.

He's happy here, with the one he loves... God, where did that come from?

But she knew it was true. Even if he didn't know it yet. Tears tried to make their way out, but she fought them back. Just then, Gabriel raised his anxious handsome face to her. He looked like a helpless child.

"Gracie, what's wrong with him? I need your help..."

She drew in a deep breath.

"Gabriel, you win. I'm leaving you here for the moment." Her voice was tight. "But please never ever ask me again to help your... friend!"

She turned around and started down the stairs. Their awful creak suited her mood. She turned her head one last time and shouted in a bitter voice, "Oh, don't forget to check your mail!"

Gabriel made an attempt to follow her, but a soft sound Friederich made as he woke up stopped him.

"Gabriel? Still... here...?" asked Friederich weakly.

"Where else? Feelin' better?" Gabriel searched his friend's face for any small sign of improvement.

"A little." Friederich's bravado didn't fool him. His condition was evidently the same, if not worse.

"You really need help. Isn't there some doctor you trust?"

"Call Gunther..."

Gabriel ran downstairs and fumbled through the phone book. He finally found the phone number and dialed it. Be there...

"Hallo? Baron von Glowers Residenz."

"Uh, Gunther? This is Knight speakin'... You know, Gabriel Knight? I came by the mansion a coupla times?"

"Ja, hallo Herr Knight."

"I'm callin' from the lodge. Fried... the baron is very ill. Do you know a trusty doctor?"

"Ja, it is his personal doktor. I shall bring him there."

"Alright, but hurry! We may not have much time."

***

Gabriel was waiting impatiently by the bedside for the physician to complete Friederich's examining. He envied Gunther's calmness. The butler was standing by the window, apparently lost in thought.

Finally the stout bearded man stood up and shook his head. "Das ist nicht gut..."

"What? What is it?"

"Herr Knight, I admit I cannot understand the cause of the baron's illness. All I can say is his blood seems to be changed... like in some cases of severe poisonings. I do not have the proper instruments here to analyze this at a greater detail. I need to transport him to a hospital."

So Friederich's blood was poisoned by the silver bite. What would happen next? Gabriel shuddered when the nightmare sprang to his mind again.

"We must hurry then. Gunther, give me a hand."

They carried the sleeping Friederich down to the car. All the way to the hospital Gabriel cursed the car's speed. It seemed hours till they finally arrived to Munich's most renowned hospital. Gunther placed his master in a private cubicle of the blood diseases section, where he was instantly taken into care.

Gabriel had gotten tired of all the waiting. He kept fidgeting around, straightened his hair every other minute, drank a sip of soda every two minutes and walked up to the closed cubicle door every five minutes. Gunther sat on the couch in the lobby, watching him with superior dignity.

Gabriel was just straightening his hair for the hundredth time when one of the doctors exited Friederich's cubicle, a worried look on her face. Gabriel sprang up from the couch, followed closely by a much more poised Gunther.

"I'm Knight, a friend of the baron's? Can you tell me anythin', doc?"

"Mr. Knight, the nature of the baron's disease puzzles us. We have analyzed his blood in the greatest detail and, without entering the scientific area, I can tell you that it is degrading at a fast rate. More and more cells are changing for apparently no reason. I cannot predict what will happen when eventually all the blood will be changed."

"You're the freakin' specialists, can't you do somethin'?"

"I'm afraid the only remedy we can try is a blood transfusion... And I'm talking about a quite drastic one."

"How d'you mean, drastic?"

"We need to replace almost three quarters of his blood. Indeed", she replied to Gabriel's horrified expression, "and that's not all. We need to find a totally compatible donor."

"And can't you find one?"

"We already looked in our blood database, and haven't found any satisfactory sample. The match must be perfect for such a huge quantity of blood."

"Can I volunteer as a donor?"

The doctor eyed Gabriel in disbelief.

"Mr. Knight, it's highly unlikely that your blood fits the criteria. But we're willing to try anything now. Please follow me."

***

Gabriel was lying limp on a hospital bed, recovering from the ordeal of having had almost all his blood drained away. He was beginning to appreciate his werewolf abilities now that he felt his body regenerating and new blood making up for the one he had lost. He looked up and saw the doctor's pretty face studying him.

"Did it work, doc?"

"It was amazing, Mr. Knight. I still can't believe it. Your blood is a perfect match for the baron's. Are you sure you're not related?"

"No, I told you. Just pure luck."

"We still have to run all the tests again, but I think I can safely say even now that the poisoning has been stopped - and just in the nick of time, too."

"That's good."

"You can be proud of what you did. The baron owes you his life."

"I did what I had to. And... call me Gabriel." He flashed her his typical smile, trying hard to look modest.

She smiled back. "You are quite an amazing person too, Gabriel. I rarely saw anyone to recover so quickly, and never after donating even close to this quantity of blood."

"What can I say? I'm a regular superhero."

"Oh, I wouldn't say 'regular' describes you...." She looked deep into his eyes.

Without understanding why, he suddenly cleared his throat and looked aside. "Uh, could you have Gunther check up on Friederich for me? He's the one waiting in the lobby with a stick up his rear," he joked uneasily.

The doctor collected herself. "Of course," she said in a somewhat disappointed tone and left.

What's wrong with you, Knight? She was practically throwing herself at you. Not hard on the eyes, either.

The unpleasant train of thought was broken by the precipitate entrance of the same doctor.

"Mr. Knight, there is no sign of this Gunther in the lobby."

"Have you looked around?"

"Yes, the hall is deserted. And that's not the weirdest thing that happened."

"Then what is?"

"Was this person wearing a black suit with matching shoes and blue shirt?"

"Yeah, I guess. Why?"

"Because his clothes are lying in a pile near the couch in the lobby!"

"Whut?! I have to see that!"

Ignoring the protests of the doctor about him getting out of bed so early, he limped out in the hall and to the couch. The doctor had been right. They were Gunther's clothes. His mind raced wildly for some reasonable explanation, but there seemed to be none, and, as weird as it was, he had to face the reality.

The dignified Gunther had disappeared into thin air and had left all his clothes behind.

continue to chapter 6 >>

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