Life Among the Dead

-by Baron Karza von Karnstein

-dedicated to Diane Neal

N.B. I do not own any of these characters. Dick Wolf owns all the SVU characters. Joel Soiβons and Patrick Luβier own the Dracula II: Ascension characters.

II

It was dark when Casey got home that night. She and the detectives had been unable to decide what to do about Kun and Kaganovich's confessions. Cragen then concluded that the best thing to do was to lock them up overnight. In the meantime, he had sent a request to the New Orleans PD for the file on the murders of a medical school professor and two of his students, and the disappearance of two of his other students, two years ago.

Casey was physically and mentally exhausted. They had spent hours trying to figure out what to do, useless hours, as it turned out. And this was all so fantastic. Casey still could not believe what had happened. She had made two very difficult phone calls to her aunt and uncle, Elizabeth's parents, and asked them if they had heard anything about or from her. Her voice choked up with grief and despair, her aunt replied no. Her uncle gave a similar response.

Those calls had taken a lot out of Casey. She felt horrible for having to call her aunt and uncle, who had divorced since Elizabeth's disappearance, and talk about this. At first, both of them asked Casey if she had heard anything. It took every iota of energy within Casey to say no, and the pain of having to say that word was excruciating.

Casey dropped her keys on her kitchen counter, and tossed her briefcase at the couch, not bothering to pick it up when it missed its target. She went into her bedroom, and came out a few minutes later, her hair up, and blue sweats and flip flops where her suit and heels had been.

Casey opened her fridge and pulled out a beer. She did not have the stomach to even make herself a sandwich. She popped the top of the can, took a long chug, and then headed towards her tiny living room to turn on the TV. She stopped, frozen in her tracks, the beer can crashing on the floor, the moment she reached the edge of the counter. Her eyes grew very wide very fast.

Just in front of her TV stood a woman in a black leather trench coat, a nondescript black shirt, black jeans and black leather boots. The woman's long red hair flowed over the collar of her coat, some of it flowing down the front of her coat. Her eyes were an unnatural colour, and they were looking right into Casey's.

"Hi Casey!"

Casey said nothing, looking on in horror.

"Casey…it's me…Lizzie…don't you recognise me?"

"Stay where you are!" Casey had finally regained her voice, albeit it trembled as she did. She slowly withdrew back into the kitchen.

"Casey, I'm not going to harm y—AAAAHHHH!"

The second Casey had backed up enough to be level with her sink, she deftly snared up an unwashed fork and knife, and snapped them both in front of her, holding them perpendicular against each other, forming an ersatz cross.

The woman in black whirled away to her right, shielding her face with her left arm.

"Casey…aaaahhhh…please! If I wanted to hurt you…"

"Get back! Get back!" ordered Casey, ignoring the woman's attempts to reason with her.

"Aaaaahhh! OK! OK! I'm moving back!" The figure retreated into the living room. Slowly, holding the improvised cross in front of her, Casey advanced.

They stood there for some time, looking like a still photograph from a horror movie, Casey the brave female would-be victim warding off her would-be attacker, the red-haired, black-bedecked woman turning away…

"Wha-what are you doing here, Elizabeth?" Casey finally asked.

"I…just want to talk…" Elizabeth forced the words out among the pain from the cross. "Please, take it away Casey!"

"Sure, so you can do to me just like you did to those three men?"

"Casey, I would never harm you! Please, you must believe me! I have been watching you for some time now…"

"You…have been hunting me?"

"No! No! Nothing like that! I just…saw you…saw you fighting people like that and standing up for victims…it touched my heart…I was just waiting for the right time…"

"If you still HAVE a heart!" interrupted Casey.

Elizabeth had backed away to the point that Casey's briefcase was within her reach. She grabbed the briefcase, opened it, looked in, and pulled out Casey's wallet.

"What are you doing?"

"Aaaahhh! The cross!—Casey, I would never do anything to hurt you. I understand why you're scared but let me prove it to you…"

Elizabeth flipped open the wallet, and flipped through the plastic cardholders, until she found what she seemed to be looking for. A look of intense pain came across her face, and she shut her eyes and turned away.

"I knew you would keep it…I never thought I would see it again, but I knew you would keep it…"

"What?"

"The Mass Card from uncle Casimir's funeral…the one with the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa on the front."

Elizabeth held it so that Casey could see. Casey slowly and cautiously glanced down at the icon, holding the improvised cross steadily in front of her.

"Casey…" gasped Elizabeth, "I would NEVER hurt you…but I understand why you won't believe me…let me prove it to you…"

Elizabeth, eyes still screwed shut from the pain of the cross, pushed back the left sleeve of her coat, exposing a thin and unhealthily pale forearm. Holding her left forearm outwards, and against her side so that her sleeve would stay up, she looked down again at the card of the icon ensheathed in plastic in Casey's wallet, wincing as she saw the image. Then, she swiftly pressed the front of the card against her exposed left forearm, giving out a loud cry of pain. Her entire face was contorted in pain now, and she whipped her head up and to her right in a futile attempt to escape the agony she was inflicting upon herself.

Smoke began to rise from that part of Elizabeth's forearm against which she was firmly pressing the icon. The stench of burning flesh began to fill the air.

This was too much for Casey. "Stop it!" she cried, as she dropped the knife and fork.

Elizabeth let off a slight grunt of relief, but still held the icon tightly against her left forearm.

"Stop it!" repeated Casey, as she lunged toward Elizabeth.

Casey grabbed Elizabeth's right hand, and began to force it away. It took much effort, but she finally pried it away.

The wallet dropped to the floor, none the worse for wear. Casey saw a mirror image of the wallet-sized icon of the Madonna of Częstochowa burned deeply into the flesh of Elizabeth's left forearm.

"OOOAhhh!" exhaled a soothed Elizabeth.

"God, Lizzie, your breath!"

Casey recoiled from Elizabeth, hand covering her nostrils.

"Yah!" expired Elizabeth, still trying to catch her breath. "That happens when you become like I am now."

Elizabeth lay there breathing deeply for a few more minutes. Casey just looked down at her, not fully comprehending what just transpired, but beginning to believe what Elizabeth had said.

"Lizzie…what…happened to you?" Casey broke the silence.

"Remember Lowell? Yeah, yeah, I know he is a jerk and I shoulda stayed away from him, like you said. Besides, he's dead, so we don't need to go there anymore. Anyway, one day, this friend of mine who had a job with the New Orleans ME—"

"Would this be Luke?"

Elizabeth turned to face Casey. She looked her right in the eye.

"Yeah, it would be Luke! How did you know about him? I never mentioned him to you!"

"After you worked your magic, we started to do some digging. The two men you attacked last night ID'd you, saying you looked like me. The jailbird you killed? Somebody across the block saw a woman in black with long red hair enter his cell…"

"So, you thought it was me?"

Casey looked down.

"Lizzie, I didn't know what to think! It…just didn't make sense! It STILL doesn't! One of my co-workers thought it was a vampire…and I mentioned the fact that you had completely dropped off the grid three years ago—"

"Three years! Has it only been three years? It feels like it was forever…"

"Yeah, three years, Lizzie!" interrupted Casey. "Your Mom and Dad are heartbroken. They split up last year, you know!"

Elizabeth's head fell limply forward. She began to sob.

"Mom…Dad…will I ever see them again?"

"Let me call them, to let them know—" Casey began to reach for her phone.

In a blur, Elizabeth was up and on Casey, her left hand wrapped tightly around the wrist of Casey's right, impeding her from reaching her phone.

"NO! Casey, no! If they find out what I am, it may kill them!"

The faces of the two women were inches apart, now. Their eyes met.

"That may be…" Casey finally said "but NOT knowing them is slowly killing them as we speak…If you are still the same Lizzie I knew, and it looks to me with every minute that passes that you are, you could never let that happen."

Elizabeth said nothing at first. "You're right, Casey, I won't let that happen. But they've been waiting for…three years, as you say. Another night or two won't kill them."

Casey wanted to protest that another night or two just might push them over the edge, but she stopped when she saw she would not convince Elizabeth. "Fair enough." She said.

Elizabeth released Casey's wrist. Casey stepped back.

"Lizzie, Lizzie…what happened…how did you…become like this?" asked a plaintive Casey.

"It was Lowell, Casey. He…betrayed me. We…Luke found the body of this vampire…I cut my finger on its teeth while we were examining it down at the morgue. I started to feel him—the vampire—in me. I could have, should have done something, but I just wanted help Lowell…

"But, you were right, Casey! You, my parents, everyone else who tried to warn me about this creep…he betrayed me…and he would have gotten away with it…"

"Were you the one who took his head off, Lizzie?"

"No."

"Then…who?"

"It's a long story…that night, the night after I pricked my finger on the fang of the vampire, I…became like him…he took me to his castle in Romania…eventually, I escaped…but, like this, as a vampire…"

Casey took this in.

"You still…feel the urge for blood?"

"Yes…Yes, Casey…I will for the rest of my days…I thought that…"

"What?"

"I thought that if I could just take it out on the scum, the murderers, the rapists…I could make amends for what I have done…"

"Done?...What did you do, Lizzie?"

Elizabeth turned away.

"Oh, Casey! You don't want to know!"

There was silence. Then Casey spoke.

"OK, Lizzie…I don't know what you did…and if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I don't think anyone would believe you, or any witnesses, much less begin to prosecute you for it. I do know that, even if I had the means to do so, I wouldn't try to put you in jail."

Elizabeth turned back to Casey. There was a look of hope in her eyes.

"You wouldn't?

"No, Lizzie, I wouldn't…Lizzie?"

"Yes?"

"Remember when we were in ninth grade?" A smile began to form on Casey's lips. "Remember that day we decided to switch places and ID cards?"

The hints of a smile began to brighten Elizabeth's pale face as well.

"We got away with it for a week! A whole week, before the teachers found out about it and gave us detention for, like, a month!"

"That's RIGHT! Lizzie, you DO remember!" exclaimed Casey as she rushed forward, arms outstretched, to embrace Elizabeth.

"I do." confirmed Elizabeth as she let Casey wrap her arms around her, and as she did the same to Casey.

The two women hugged each other tightly.

"Ow! Ow! Easy on my back!"

"Oh God, Casey! I'm sorry!" Elizabeth quickly released Casey.

"It's OK…I'm just still a little sore…I was attacked about a month ago—"

"Yes! I know!" There was a cold ferocity in Elizabeth's voice now. "That animal will never harm another human being! Ever!"

"But, that's not the POINT!" exclaimed Casey "We aren't in the jungle, Lizzie! We can't just…kill perpetrators just like that, no matter how much we want to!"

Elizabeth looked at Casey, uncomprehending at first, and then hurt. Casey picked up on this.

"It's not that I don't appreciate the thought, Lizzie, I do! Believe me!

"But, killing people like that won't solve anything! In fact, it only leaves that many more unsolved murders…and bereaved families. As for blood, well, we can try to get you some without you having to kill anyone."

"You're right, Casey, I'm sorry…you know, that day we decided to switch in the ninth grade? Part of me wanted to do it just for fun. But another part of me wanted to do it because I thought it would be nice to get A's and B's instead of C's and D's for a change. And I knew I would get A's and B's if you were playing me for a while…"

"While you helped bring down my average!" Casey was smiling again.

"Yah! My bad, Casey! But, it did feel good to bring home A's and B's…at least until Mom and Dad saw that it was your handwriting on my tests…" Elizabeth smiled as well

"But the point is, Casey, you were always the smarter one. You had book smarts, even guy smarts. You would have never hooked up with a loser like Lowell, not in a million years. I'm happy to see that you still have your smarts about you, even, or especially, when you had all these shocks today!"

"Thanks, Lizzie! But, you were always the fun part of school. You always had a way to make me laugh…" Casey stopped smiling. "That's why it really hurt when you disappeared and no one could find you."

Elizabeth stopped smiling too. "I'm sorry…" she said.

"No need to apologise! You couldn't help it. I'm just glad you're back!"

Casey offered her hand to Elizabeth. Elizabeth looked down at it. Casey could swear she saw a tear forming in Elizabeth's right eye.

Elizabeth gently took Casey's hand.

"Thank you! THANK YOU, Casey! That's the nicest thing I've heard in a long time."

Casey smiled and brushed Elizabeth's tear away with her left hand.

"You're safe, now, sweetie! Whatever you need, I'll try to help you get it. For blood, while, I think we can find a way to get into a blood bank. No problem there. The only thing now is, I have figure out what to do with Kun and Kaganovich."

"They'll confess."

"They already did. It's just that, my coworkers—the detective and the FBI shrink who work with us—they noticed the marks on Kun and Kaganovich's necks too…"

A look of panic suddenly overtook Casey.

"And holy crap! I told them about you!"

"Not to worry, Casey!" Elizabeth was smiling now. "I'll just pay them all a visit and they'll forget you said that."

"Liz!—"

"Don't worry! I'm not going to attack them. I don't have too. Just a few seconds looking in their eyes, and they won't remember it ever happened. In fact, if you tell me who the judge will be at Kaganovich's arraignment, I'll pay him or her a visit too. I know that was a high-profile case."

"Huh!" commented Casey "And you thought I was the brainy one! I would have never figured a way out of this one!"

"Good thing I showed up, then, isn't it?" asked Elizabeth, a smirk on her face.

"You always were a wiseass!"

"Ugh? If I remember right, we tied for the "Most Detentions" award on graduation day. I admit, I may have changed a lot when I turned, but I distinctly remember that part."

"Yeah, you got that right, cuz!" responded Casey.

Both women tried to suppress powerful giggles for the next few minutes. When they regained control of themselves, a sombre look came across Casey's face.

"Lizzie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think…do you think one day you'll be able to go talk to your Mom and Dad? They really love you, you know."

Elizabeth grew serious too.

"Yes, Casey. I will contact them. I want to very badly. It's just…I don't know what to say!"

"You don't really have to say anything, Lizzie! That's the difference between us. I fought with my Mom and Dad all the time—and I still do—, but you were always a good daughter. My Dad always asked me 'Why can't you be more like Elizabeth?' "

"Ouch! That had to hurt!"

"Yeah, exactly, but, the point is, your parents really love you, Lizzie. Not knowing is really killing them. If you just showed up, and they could touch you so they would know it was really you…you would bring them back to life! I could go with you, if that's what you wanted. I could even call them to prepare them…"

"You would do that for me, Casey?"

"Yes, Lizzie, I WILL do that for you, if that's what you want!"

"Casey!"

The two women embraced, and gingerly held each other.

"Lizzie?" asked Casey after what seemed to be an eternity.

"Yeah, Casey!"

"Lizzie, you were the coolest kid in high school. You musta been pretty cool in college too…"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, before you disappeared, we only saw each other like once or twice a year…I would think you would have LOTS of close friends…why did you pick me?"

Elizabeth released Casey.

"You were already in white collar when I disappeared, Casey. When I got back to the States, I made my way to New York. I had this feeling you would be the one to help me figure out what I should do."

"But…why me, Lizzie?"

"Then I saw you working to bring these rapists and murderers to jail." Elizabeth ignored Casey. "I watched as you tried to take on the whole US Army last week…what the government did to these soldiers…all this sickness, all this depravity…

"Darling only you are the life among the dead!"