With the start of the new season 8 weeks away (6, if you count SOTB), the muse, not being a patient soul, decided to write her own story. ‘The Faceless Ones’ is a continuation of the first two stories in the Moonlight / H50 crossover series, in answer to Challenge 140. Like the first two, ‘The Long Journey Home’ and ‘Affairs of the Heart’, ‘The Faceless Ones’ is fairly short (9 chapters, all of which are written).
All 9 chapter will be posted more or less weekly before SOTB occurs. For those of you who watch H50, ‘The Faceless Ones’ takes place between episodes 4.20 (when Danny kids McGarrett about not knowing where Catherine is. His reply is ‘she’s visiting friends on the mainland’) and 4.21 where McGarrett and Catherine go to Afghanistan.
For those who haven’t read the first two stories in this series, there’s enough recounted in passing in this story that you should be able to follow. Some key info is that ‘blood demons’ are the oriental name for vampire and Kimiko is Josef’s counterpart on Oahu. She’s as old as Josef and probably his match in many areas. Based on events in ‘Affairs of the Heart’ she was impressed by Mick and Beth and has accepted them into her family as her son and daughter. Both Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams know about vampires in general and Mick and Josef in particular.
With that, I hope you enjoy.
As always, I don’t profit from these stories, but really do enjoy playing with the characters.
The Faceless Ones
Prologue
LA - pre-dawn – a week earlier
Bruised and terrified, a young woman stumbled into a dark alley.
Gotta hide!! Can’t let them find me!!
After a few minutes, the sounds of passing cars drew her out toward the street. If only she could get a few more yards, she would be safe. But those few yards wouldn’t be easy; that fall had done some damage. Finally, she staggered into the street and willed her arms to flag an oncoming car, praying someone would stop.
This wasn’t the best part of LA, and first one, then another car passed her by. A third car slowed, then pulled away seeing two men suddenly appear and grab the woman’s arms.
The shorter of the two whispered in her ear. “Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. Now where do you think you’re going? All those cuts and bruises – it’s going to take longer to get you ready.”
The young woman stared in disbelief; this couldn’t be happening. Any minute now she was going to wake from this nightmare. “Ready? Ready for what?”
“Let’s just say you’re the dish best served cold.”
The taller man grabbed Ruby’s hair, pulling her head back. “Listen, bitch. You belong to us now and you’ll do as we say.”
Or else.
Those words weren’t actually said, but the young woman understood the threat nonetheless. Before she could scream, Ruby felt the jab of a needle that sent her spiraling into oblivion. When she finally awoke, she’d find that her nightmare had only just begun.
Chapter 1
Day 1 - LAPD – late afternoon
Carl Davis was nearing the end of his shift, thankful for a relatively quiet day. A couple of weeks ago, a nasty little surprise had landed on his desk and since then, he’d prayed there wouldn’t be another. While LA’s homicides had dropped in recent years, the drug trade continued to flourish and gang wars seemed never-ending. Worst of all was the periodic ‘weird shit’ as Carl liked to call it; victims who bled out from god-knows what kind of animal bites and people who seemed to vanish without a trace. What showed up last week, though, topped them all.
When Carl arrived at his desk, a surprise of a different sort was waiting for him.
“Beth!! What brings you here?” While the detective had a soft spot for the former Buzzwire reporter and district attorney’s assistant, he knew that whenever Beth St. John showed up, she usually wanted something.
“Can’t a friend just stop by to say ‘hi’ anymore?”
“Not if that friend is you. What have you been up to?”
“Mick and I were away for a couple of weeks, sort of a second honeymoon. We got back a few days ago and I thought I’d just stop by and see how you were doing.”
Carl snorted. “Like you two need another honeymoon.” The detective then took a closer look at the young woman in front of him. “You feel OK? You look a little pale.”
Chalk one up for Carl for noticing there’s something different about me. That ‘second honeymoon’ was actually time away from humans during my transition, but that’s something he doesn’t need to know.
“Probably just jet lag, that’s all.” Beth perched herself on the edge of Carl’s desk. “So, anything exciting going on?”
“Other than the usual mayhem? Not really.” Carl sensed Beth was fishing. “It’s been a long day, Beth. What are you really here for?”
The former reporter became all business. “Look, I need your advice. I’m working on a project – sort of free lance exposé of crime in LA. There’s just so much of it that to try and cover everything wouldn’t do any of it justice. Since you’re one of the best cops I know, I wanted to get your opinion on what my focus should be.”
“You got one thing right – there’s way too much crime in this city. Sometimes I wonder if anything we cops do makes any difference. We get one bad guy off the streets and three more take his place.”
Beth reached out and touched Carl’s arm. “Hey, you do make a difference. I’ve seen some of the guys you’ve put away and believe me, we’re all safer for it.”
Before Carl could respond, a uniformed officer approached and handed him a folder. “Sorry to interrupt, Lieutenant, but I thought you might want to see this. Found another one a little while ago.”
Beth’s eyes grew wide as she whispered. “Found another what?”
Carl silently cursed the officer’s timing; Beth poking around could be dangerous, if not to her, then to the case itself. “You know I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation.”
“Carl, it’s me, remember? You can try, but you know I’m going to find out one way or the other. So, don’t you think it’s better that I get the straight story from you?”
The detective sighed; one way or another, Beth would find out. The best he could hope for was to keep her out of the way. “OK. I’ll give you an overview, but no names or details. I can’t have you snooping around and screwing up the investigation.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Yeah, right. Here’s the deal. About a month ago, a woman went missing.”
“So? That’s nothing unusual.”
“True, but what was unusual was that she was from out of town. When her family didn’t hear from her for a couple of days, they got in touch with the friends she was visiting here, but they thought she’d gone home. That’s when the family filed a missing person’s report.”
“I take it she didn’t show up.”
“Actually, she did, just not in the way anyone wanted. About two weeks ago, a body was found, burned beyond recognition. The ME confirmed identity by dental records.”
“O my God! Why would anyone do something so horrible?” Beth’s eyes narrowed as her reporter’s instincts kicked in. “Better question is why hasn’t there been anything in the news about this?”
“Burning the body gets rid of key forensic evidence, making it harder for us to identify and find the killer.” Carl nodded at another folder on his desk. “Problem is, there have been three more missing persons cases like this one in the last few weeks. What I’m trying to figure out is whether the first victim was a one-off or are we dealing with a serial psycho. So far, no additional bodies have shown up.” Carl grimaced as he opened the folder the officer gave him. “Until now.”
Inside the folder were crime scene images showing the charred remains of what was once a living, breathing human being. Little remained but blackened bones in what appeared to be an abandoned building.
Beth peeked over the folder and got a glimpse of the gruesome images. “OK, but why keep this quiet? Wouldn’t you want the public to know about this killer?”
“Officially, we’re trying to find out if the other missing people had some connection with our victim.” Carl glanced around to see who else was within earshot in the squad room. “Unofficially? The mayor is afraid that if people knew the killer was still on the loose, the tourists would stay away.”
“Meaning less money for the city. That’s pretty cold, Carl.”
“No shit. I’d rather get word on the street and catch this sick sonofabitch before anyone else gets hurt.” Carl paused, then made a decision, knowing it could land him in hot water. Catching Beth’s eye, he laid the folder on top of the other one on his desk. “I need to get some coffee. Want any?”
“No, thanks.” When Carl left, Beth sat down as if she was waiting for him to return. Casually, she slid the folders from the desk to her lap so that no one could see what she was doing. After she thumbed through the grisly images once, she took out her phone and copied the folders’ contents.
When Carl returned, the folders were still on his desk, but Beth was nowhere to be found.
I’ll catch hell from the chief if he finds out, but screw it. We need to catch this guy. I just hope Mick can keep his wife out of trouble.
***********************************************************************************
Day 1 - Mick and Beth’s loft – late night
Mick arrived home to find his wife thoroughly engrossed in something on her laptop. Now that she’d fully transitioned, he’d encouraged Beth to find a way to put her talents to use. Going back to Buzzwire clearly wasn’t an option – any marginally serious reporting during Maureen’s tenure had evaporated under Grant’s sleazy style. Once she married Mick, Beth found working with Ben Talbot at the DA’s office more than a little awkward. While the ADA had developed a grudging respect for the PI, it was clear Ben didn’t fully trust him, nor did he trust Beth not to share privileged information with her husband.
Beth had explored other options, ultimately choosing to stick with some form of journalism. To enhance her résumé, she decided to go freelance, working on stories that were of genuine public interest. With her firsthand knowledge of LA’s criminal activities, an exposé on the city’s crime seemed a good place to start. Between her contacts in the LAPD and DA’s office, not to mention her association with Mick, Beth had greater access to key information than most journalists.
When Mick sat down next to his wife, Beth told him about her visit with Carl, recounting what the detective had shared with her. “Carl doesn’t have much to go on. As you can see, there’s not much left of the bodies.”
Mick grimaced as he reviewed the images. “Whoever did this is either wanted to destroy evidence or has some real anger issues. Maybe both. Does Carl have any leads?”
“If he does, he didn’t let on. I think he was hoping the first burned body was an isolated incident. Now that they’ve got a second one, he’s afraid this is just the beginning of a series of killings. There are at least two more non-local missing persons he knows of that could fall victim to the same killer.”
“How did the rest of your visit with Carl go?”
“I didn’t think about snacking on him, if that’s what you mean. He did say that I looked a little pale.”
“Trust me, you being ‘pale’ will become the new normal for him. Eventually, he won’t even notice.”
“I hope so. I don’t think Carl is ready to find out about vampires just yet.” Beth scrolled through the images on her laptop again. “I had planned to touch base with Ben as well, but after Carl left me this info, I wanted to start digging right away.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a call from Guillermo, asking if Mick could come down to the morgue for a ‘consultation’.
After ending the call, Mick suggested that Beth accompany him. “Pictures can tell you only so much. Let’s see what your new vamp senses get off those burned bodies.”
A short time later, Guillermo greeted them at the morgue. “Hey, thanks for coming. I’ve got two burned bodies, both women, late-twenties or early-thirties. When the first one showed up, I thought it might be trouble. Now that there’s two of them, well, check it out for yourselves.”
When the first body was pulled out and the sheet drawn back, Beth turned away. “O my God! This is worse than I thought it would be. How do you stand this?”
“It’s like anything else. You get used to it.” Mick took his wife’s hand in his. “You sure you’re up for this?”
Beth shook herself. “Yes, of course. But what exactly am I supposed to be doing?”
“Concentrating on the smell.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m serious. Concentrate on the odor, then describe it.”
For a few minutes, Beth walked around the first body, sometimes pulling back if the odor was too overwhelming. Eventually, it became easier and she started to list the various things she smelled. “Burnt flesh, obviously. Something like gasoline, dirt and…fear? Does that make any sense?”
Mick replied. “Yeah, it does. Whoever burned their victim doused them in gasoline before setting them on fire. The dirt was transferred to the body when it was dumped.”
“How can I be smelling fear?”
“You’re not smelling it as much as sensing it.”
“OK, but this woman is dead. How can I still sense her fear?”
“You’re sensing what she felt during the last moments of her life. Seems you inherited that little trait from me.” Mick sensed the body himself. “Anything else you get from our victim?”
Beth concentrated for a few minutes more. “There is something….I just can’t quite identify it. It’s like there’s more than one dead person here.”
Guillermo was impressed. “Not bad for a newbie, Mick.”
Beth looked from one man to the other. “What?”
Mick explained. “What you’re smelling is vampire decay on the victim.”
“A vampire did this?”
“Yeah and Josef won’t be happy about him dumping the body where humans could find it. Now sense the second body and tell me what you get.”
When Guillermo pulled the second body out, Beth repeated her examination, stating that the results were similar, but not quite the same. “OK, that’s odd. The vampire smell is similar, but not quite the same as on the first body. Does that mean another vampire is involved?”
Mick sensed the body as well, then went back to the first. “Yeah, three actually. The strongest vampire scent is the same on both bodies. The fainter vamp scent is different, though.” Turning to Guillermo, he asked. “Is that what you thought was ‘trouble?”
“Not just that, man. Each victim’s blood was drained before the body was burned. I don’t mean just enough to cause death, but almost all of it.”
Beth was skeptical. “How can you tell? Wouldn’t any blood have just burned away?”
“Yes, but there would have been some hefty blood residue in the bone charring. Take a whiff – you won’t get any hint of blood on either body.”
Beth did as told. “So why would a vampire completely drain a victim, then burn the body? Why not just call the Cleaner?”
“Good questions.” Mick looked grim. “If vampires are responsible for this, it’s just not Carl’s problem, it’s ours as well. We need to let Josef know what’s going on before things get out of hand.”
***********************************************************************************
Day 1 - Oahu, Hawaii – Port of Honolulu - afternoon
Sergeant Duke Lukela called out to the members of 5-0 when they arrived at the docks. “Over here, Commander.”
“What’ve you got, Duke?”
“Some workers were getting those containers on that top row ready to load onto ships. They noticed the lock on this red one had been broken, so they brought it down to ground level to make sure the contents hadn’t been stolen. When they looked inside, this is what they found.” Duke signaled to the dock worker to re-open the container. “I thought you’d want to see this before we called CSU.”
Danny Williams turned away, bile rising to his throat. “Holy shit!! What kind of sick bastard would do something like this?”
Steve McGarrett had seen a lot of horrific things in his life, but nothing quite like this. Kono Kalakaua looked as though she was going to be ill and Chin Ho Kelly didn’t look a whole lot better. “I don’t know, but we’d better find out. Fast. Kono, see if there are any security tapes of this area we can review. Chin, call Max. Tell him he’s going to need some help and maybe a dozen body bags. Then get CSU down here.”
While Chin and Kono performed their respective tasks, Steve entered the cargo container, causing his partner to protest. “Whoa!! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Just trying to get a feel for what happened here, Danny.”
“Feel? From ten feet away I can give you a lot more than a feel. Some psycho loaded this container with people then barbequed them.”
“But why?”
“What part of psycho did you not understand, Steven?”
“OK, smart guy. Tell me if these people were already dead before he torched them or were they burned alive?”
Danny blanched. “Seriously, you had to go there?”
“It’s our job, but if it makes you feel any better, I think they were dead before they were torched.”
“What makes you say that?”
Steve knelt down near one of the victims. “Come here and take a close look at the bodies..”
“I’d rather not…”
“Bodies of people burned alive are contorted, reflecting the pain the person was feeling as they were burning. These bodies aren’t contorted at all.”
“I don’t even want to know how you know that. Can we get out of here, please? The stench is making me sick.”
“With no scorching inside the container, my guess is that these people were killed and burned somewhere else, then dumped here.”
As Steve exited the container, Chin returned. “CSU and Max are on the way. ETA 10 minutes.”
Kono returned a few minutes later. “The yard manager gave me copies of the security footage of this area, but it only goes back about a week. He said there was a power outage in this part of the yard last night that lasted about an hour. I’ll review the footage when we get back to the Palace, but wanna bet that that’s the time the bodies were put in here?”
Danny waved his hands over the general area. “OK, there are hundreds of containers here. No power means no lights. No lights makes it difficult to see where the hell you’re going, not to mention the fact that the top row is about 20 feet off the ground. Assuming Superman isn’t our killer, who else could navigate in the dark or leap that high …” Seeing Steve’s stone-faced expression, Danny stopped. “That’s not a face I want to see right now.”
Steve shook his head, not wanting to have this discussion with so many people around. “Maybe these guys had night vision goggles. Maybe the container was loaded a long time ago when it was more accessible. Let’s see what Max and the surveillance tapes tell us.”
Before we jump to any conclusions.
A short time later, CSU arrived at the scene along with Max and his two assistants. Upon seeing the burned corpses, the ME stopped in his tracks. “O my. This is … Commander, I don’t have words for this.”
“Max, I know this is a tough one. As soon as you have any idea how these people died or who they are, I want to know. Day or night, call me.”
“I will, Commander.”
As the 5-0 team headed back to the Palace, Max stood silently at the container’s opening. Closing his eyes, he prayed that the spirits of those before him would find peace and that the monster who committed this atrocity would soon be caught.
***********************************************************************************
Day 2 - Josef Kostan’s estate – Pre-dawn
Josef steepled his fingers, processing the information Mick had just provided. “Guillermo is certain that both bodies were completely drained?”
“Completely may be an overstatement, but I’d go with his judgment.”
“So, in summary, we’ve got one or more whack vampires who kidnap and drain tourists dry, set their bodies on fire, then dump them where humans can find them?”
“Basically. Remind you of anyone?”
“Lola? She’s dead, or so you tell me. Besides, she drained vamps, not humans. You’re sure there were multiple vamps involved?”
“I think I can tell the difference between vampire scents, Josef. And yeah, I know this can’t be Lola. Maybe somebody is taking a page from her playbook, though.”
“What, making party drugs out of human blood? Downers for happy vamps instead of uppers for bored humans? Bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”
“OK, what if someone is picking up where Pierce Anders left off? Maybe this new vamp doesn’t care if his victims die.”
“Or that he’s toast when we catch him.” Josef smirked. “Sorry, inappropriate. At least we know it’s not Anders. I was there when you put him out of our misery. One of your better moments, I might add. Speaking of better, where’s your better half?”
“Doing a little digging on the four missing persons that Carl ‘left’ for her. Maybe they have more in common than being tourists.” Mick grinned. “You’d have been proud of her, Josef. Once Beth got over the stench, she was able to separate out the various odors on the victims’ bodies. She even caught the vamp scents.”
“I am proud of her, if for no other reason than getting you to finally turn her. God knows I couldn’t do it. Besides, at least now you won’t have to worry so much about her. Anybody mistaking Beth for a helpless human female won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“One more thing. When Beth was sensing the body, she caught the victim’s fear just before they died.”
Josef was impressed. “Sensing the past isn’t a common ability among vamps. All the more reason I’m glad she’s one of us now.”
As the elder vampire grew thoughtful, Mick knew his friend was assessing the possible danger these mystery vamps posed to the tribe. To the human public, Josef Kostan was little more than a wealthy businessman. To those who knew him well, the safety of the vampire community was a responsibility Josef took very seriously. If a vamp was found guilty of endangering the community, no time was wasted between conviction and execution.
“There’s something we’re missing here, Mick. Vamps draining humans is nothing new, but we have rules now.” Josef stood. “Maybe they’re trying and failing to turn someone, or maybe they’re just hungry and careless, like a newly-turned rogue. But why tourists? Why burn the bodies, then leave them where humans can find them?”
Mick thought for a moment before he answered. “OK. With out-of-town victims, there’s a longer time before anyone home knows they’ve gone missing. That gives our vamp time to drain them, maybe over a couple of days. Kinda rules out failed turnings. Rogues wouldn’t bother burning the bodies, either.”
“Agreed. Sounds more like someone prolonging their midnight snack, then torching what’s left. If that’s the case, then the victim is visiting LA by themselves, otherwise a travelling companion would have alerted the cops.”
“Good point. As for not calling the Cleaner, maybe this guy is sending a message.”
“Or a challenge. ‘Catch me if you can’ or something equally stupid.”
“But why?”
“That, my friend, is what you’re going to find out.”
) beginning to this new mystery! I'm happy to see so many Moonlight and 5-0 friends. 
And I can't wait to learn how the crimes in the two cities are connected. I wonder if Carl will remain ignorant of vampires for much longer...? 
She's already great at using her new talents. (sniffing smiley -> 
) Going freelance is a good idea for her. She's got connections, and since she doesn't need a steady paycheck she can take her time and do the kinds of in-depth stories that cash-strapped news organizations aren't doing anymore. 
I'm totally in love with this Beth - newly Turned, practicing her new skills. 
Sure it is... 
