“What do you mean the body is gone?” Cooper asked, as he stood with Dr. Daniel Bevins, confused. “Bodies just don’t get up and walk out of here!”

“I don’t have an answer for you, Cooper! John Doe number one is gone,” Dan said, scratching his head as they both stare at the slab where the first John Doe should have been. “Believe it or not, it is not unheard for people to steal bodies from morgues.”

“When was the last time it was seen?” Sam asked, staring at the empty table in disbelief.

“It’s been a madhouse around here. I couldn’t tell you when the last time someone actually saw it. Bodies usually don’t disappear from here so no one was really keeping an eye on them. You see how many we have?” He gestures around the refrigerated room. There are two shelves of unclaimed bodies in white body bags, lining the three walls of the room, along with about five carts in the middle of the room. The John Does were being stored in the refrigerator room since they were part of an ongoing investigation.

“Can we get a copy of the security footage for the building?” Cooper asked the physician as they walked out of the cold room. Dan motioned for them to follow him as he led them through the hallways. They entered a room housing a few television screens. Dan spoke to the security guard and requested a copy of the tapes for Cooper and Sam.

Twenty minutes later, Sam and Cooper were back in Sam’s car, heading back to the station with copies of the security footage from the last twenty-four hours of the coroner’s office.

“You wanna grab a bite to eat?” Sam asked, breaking into Cooper’s daydream. Lately, his mind had been full of visions of the beautiful stranger. His heart ached as if he was missing a piece of him and he just could not understand how her ice blue eyes haunted him. He didn’t know how he knew her or when they met but he was sure that she was real. He would bet his next paycheck on it. Her pouty lips, made him hard, thinking about them wrapped around his cock. He shifted slightly, clearing his throat. He shouldn’t be thinking of a woman he doesn’t know like that while crammed into a car with his partner.

“Sure, we can grab something and just head back to the precinct to watch the videos.” He still hadn’t admitted to Sam that he didn’t want to go to the diner because of a feeling that overcame him there. They usually went to the diner just about every day. The food was just that good, but lately, every time he had gone, a feeling of great sadness overwhelmed him, as if he had lost something.

“Drive-Thru, it is then,” Sam muttered as he turned into a local fast food restaurant. They grabbed their food and headed to the precinct. Lately, with the string of murders, they had been working longer shifts and needed to grab their food when they could.

“So, what’s your guess on what happened to John Doe number one?” Cooper asked Sam as they settled down in front of a television screen with their food, in one of the back offices. Sam slipped the disk into the DVD player.

“I wouldn’t even be surprised if some sicko snatched him,” Sam declared around his first bite of his sandwich.

The video played, the timestamp showing that the recording commenced around ten o’clock last night. The camera was positioned outside of the refrigerator room where the unclaimed bodies were stored. It was angled to monitor the entire hallway and the double doors at the end of the short hallway that led outside of the building. They skimmed through the first hour, with no activity in the hallway; by the second hour, an employee with a viewable badge walked out of the double doors that led outside, holding a pack of cigarettes and lighter.

By two o’clock in the morning, the lights in the hallway began flickering. The hallway was clear again as the lights continued to blink in unison.

“You watching this?” Cooper tapped Sam’s arm, getting his attention from his cell phone. As they continued to watch the lights flicker, they finally just went out, casting the hallway in complete darkness. A long thirty seconds later, the lights flashed back on.

“Jesus!” Sam exclaimed.

“Shit!” Cooper cursed.

They both stared at the monitor with their mouths hanging open. John Doe number one stood outside the fridge room. He only had on the customary blue scrub pants, his chest bare, with the autopsy y-incision exposed. His head slowly turned in both directions of the hallway before his body slowly started making its way towards the double doors. A chill slithered down Cooper’s spine as he watched the dead man stumble for a second, before righting his footing. They both watched in stunned silence as the body pushed open the doors and disappeared from the camera’s view, out into the night.

“Did we just see what I think we just saw?” Sam asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“Yeah, we did.” Cooper answered, running his hands through his hair.

“We were in the room when Dan did the autopsy on that fucker! He was dead!” Sam yelled shaken, getting up to pace in the small room.

“I know, but how do we explain this to the captain?”

“Shit! Without this video, no one would believe us,” Sam claimed, gesturing to the television.

Cooper pulled his cell phone out, tapping on Dan’s name. Dan answered on the second ring.

“What you got, Cooper?” Dan answered, getting to the point.

“We watched the video and you’ll never believe what is on there,” Cooper started. “The body walked out of the fridge room. On its own.”

* * *

“That is just so tragic!” Anika exclaimed as they got their things out of their lockers. “I’m so glad it’s just me and my sister. I don’t know what I would do if I had an overbearing brother!”

“One, I could deal with but four is driving me crazy!” Nadira rolled her eyes as they made their way out of the locker room. No one could possibly understand what it was like to have four alpha older brothers, and a father who was king of the vampires.

“So are they going to make you mate with the son of that king?” Anika asked while they waited for the elevator.

“No, Adrian says that my father is trying to negotiate peace another way. We don’t know why after fifty years, they just appeared all of a sudden,” Nadira explained as they got on the elevator.

“That is just crazy! Who gets married or mated through an arrangement now? That is so old fashioned!” Anika chuckled. “But at least—”

The elevator shuddered to a stop. The lights flickered as the elevator became silent. They both looked at each other.

“Not tonight!” Nadira groaned as she pushed the emergency button.

“I don’t have time for this. I need to get home and crash!” Anika said pulling her phone out of her purse. “No signal. Check your phone; maybe we can call the operator to get someone here quicker.”

Nadira pulled out her phone noting that she too had no reception. “No luck with my phone.” She pushed the emergency button again. The red light next to the speaker came on as the sound of a phone ringing from the speaker next to the emergency button.

“What’s your emergency?” A nasal female voice answered through the speaker.

“We’re stuck on an elevator!” Anika said, speaking into the speaker.

“What’s your location?” The nasal voice asked.

“Lutheran Hospital,” Nadira answered. There was no response from the speaker. Loud static could be heard from the speaker. Nadira and Anika looked at each other as the static got louder, then it cut off.

“Princess…” A low strangled voice came over the speaker. The air in the elevator became chilly. Nadira pushed Anika behind her as if the threat was on the elevator.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Nadira demanded, as she checked her cell phone again, finding it still with no reception.

“We’re coming for you,” the voice whispered fiercely.

“Who is?” She could feel Anika’s trembling hands grab onto the back of her jacket.

“We’re coming for you,” the voice repeated as the red light next to the speaker turned off and the speaker went dead.

“When we get out of this elevator, you are to go straight to your car. Get in and go straight home. Do not stop for anything,” Nadira ordered, turning to Anika, gripping her shoulders to make her look at her. Anika’s eyes were wide as saucers as she looked at Nadira. “Do you understand, Anika?” She shook her slightly, pulling Anika from her shock. Anika blinked quickly before nodding her head in understanding.

The elevator groaned, shuddered again, and began making its way to the first floor. Nadira grabbed a hold of Anika’s hand as the door opened. She cautiously leaned out of the door, peeking at the empty hallway. With it being a little after three in the morning, the hospital tended not to have many visitors or employees around.

“Stay behind me,” Nadira said softly. Even though Anika was a few inches taller than Nadira, it would be Nadira protecting her. There was no way that she would let something happen to her best friend. They rapidly made their way towards the front door. She could see Cyran’s black BMW parked by the curb in front of the door. He took one look them and jumped out of the car on high alert. He pulled his gun from the holster under his leather jacket. He held up his hand, signaling for them to wait as he walked around the car.

Cyran was chosen by Nicu to guard Nadira. He was one of most lethal vampires that were employed by her brother. He has sworn to the king to give his life to protect the princess. He came in through the front door.

“What is wrong, Princess?” His voice was deep as his eyes assessed the hallway. She quickly told him what happened on the elevator. “We need to get you out of here.” He escorted them out the door, insisting to drive Anika to her car and promising Nadira that he would send a vampire guard to meet her at home.

“You will be safe, Anika,” Nadira said as she hugged Anika tight.

“I’m not worried about me. I’m human, and they don’t want me. The voice said they were coming for you. Promise me you’ll stay safe,” Anika grabbed Nadira’s hand, squeezing it slightly.

“I’ll be fine. I have the best protecting me. No harm will come to me,” Nadira said, squeezing her hand back. Seeming to be comforted by that, Anika got out of the car and jumped in hers. She waved as she pulled off.

“I have called Idris and he is close by. He will meet your friend at her place and stay tonight to monitor her. She will be safe,” Cyran said taking in her worried looked as he pulled their car onto the road.

“Thank you, Cyran,” she said, staring off into the night from her back seat.

“It is an honor to protect you, Princess,” he replied, his eyes meeting hers in the rearview mirror.

“You’re just saying that. I’m sure you would prefer to be assigned to any other detail.”

“Believe me—” a string of curses escaped his lips as he looked into the review mirror.

“What’s wrong?” She turned in her seat and saw a large SUV with blinding lights gaining on them fast. The two-lane road had a few cars driving in both directions.

“We’re being followed. I wasn’t sure at first, but now they are not trying to hide it anymore,” he said quickly, glancing again in the rearview mirror. “Buckle up, Princess.”

The BMW sped up fast, causing Nadira to fall back into her seat. She kept quiet, letting Cyran focus on trying to outmaneuver the SUV. He made a sharp right turn, jerking Nadira to the left, the tires on the asphalt squealing during the turn. She pulled out her phone, sending a quick text to her brother Toma, telling him what was going on. Cyran floored the engine, the BMW flying past random cars on the road. Nadira glanced back out the rear window, seeing the SUV keeping up. Her phone vibrated. Toma was calling.

“Hello?” she shouted over the roar of the car’s engine and Cyran cursing.

“What the fuck is going on?” Toma shouted into the phone.

“We’re being chased,” she said, hanging on to her seatbelt and Cyran made another sharp turn.

“Where are you?” Toma asked.

“Cyran, Toma wants to know where we are,” she glanced up at Cyran.

“The shore way heading east,” he responded through gritted teeth.

“He said we’re on the—” she screamed as the SUV rammed into the car. Her phone flew out of her hand, landing somewhere on the floor. Cyran cursed again as the truck crashed into the car again, causing it to go sailing in the air. She jerked as the car slammed into the ground, tumbling down a hill. She closed her eyes tight as the car continued to flip repeatedly, praying that it stopped. The seatbelt dug into her chest as she was tossed into the air as the car finally came to an abrupt halt, slamming into something unseen.