Chapter 17 - Nothing Else Matters

Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. The five stages of grief. Nearly a week after everything that has gone down in Edmonton, Kaitlyn Russo found herself now in stage four: depression. Currently on medical leave from being attacked by the Bratstvo Kresta and Anya, Kaitlyn was shocked to hear about the bombing at New City Suburbs. She was more shocked to hear that one of the many casualties from the bombing was Angie Newhart, her former partner and classmate during their academy days. Now here Kaitlyn was - suffering from a mild concussion, lying on her couch, and watching old home movies from the day she and Angie graduated from the academy. Two young women, so filled with pride and a sense of upholding honor and duty to the line of work they were entering into. That was what Kaitlyn Russo wanted to be a lasting memory of Angie Newhart; not the image she’ll see later today with a closed casket as Kaitlyn would be serving in the honor guard for Angie’s funeral. That is, if Kaitlyn could find the energy to get off the couch to get into her dress uniform, which Seth Rollins was now holding in front of her face. “Really Seth?” Kaitlyn asked in a sullen tone.

“Aw come on, love,” Seth tried to get Kaitlyn’s spirits up with a mock English accent. “Get your Sunday best on, stiff upper lip, do it for the queen and all that nonsense.”

“Not really up for it,” Kaitlyn said as she gently pushed the uniform out of the way so she could still watch the videos.

“Well, let’s find something not so buried in the past then on the telly then,” Seth said continuing with his accent as he turned off the video player and turned on the television, which coincidentally was on CTV News Channel – who had on a split screen Claire Sawyer and Pastor William Love, debating the upcoming House of Commons vote on amendments to the Vampire Registries Act. The old, decrepit looking Pastor Love spoke with a gravelly voice “… These creatures don’t need any more rights. In fact, actions here in Edmonton within the last two weeks shows why any sort of program for these monsters is futile and pointless.”

“Actions which has either been done by a few criminal elements within the vampire community, or misguided individuals who have taken your words quite literally,” Claire rebutted Pastor Love’s comments.

“Which one of those events happened to you personally, right Miss Sawyer?” Pastor Love asked. “Or did you fake the whole thing just to garner sympathy for a dying cause?”

“My own ‘event’ as you referred to without any class,” Claire replied back with a tinge of bitterness, “Would have been a hundred times worse had I not been saved by a vampire who is a representative of the new burgeoning community. A representative who has been to this point reluctant to come forth because of bigots like you, Pastor Love.”

“That thing will do worse things to you than those four men allegedly did to you!” Pastor Love said to Claire. With an off-screen voice saying “Okay, that seemed rather uncalled for…”, which Claire interrupted. “Allegedly?! Want me to dig up the police reports to show my alleged cuts, bruises, and lacerations I suffered?”

“Turn this off, it’s making me even more depressed,” Kaitlyn asked Seth, who obliged the request and turned off the television.

“See? This is why you need to get up and shake this funk off ya, mate.” Seth told Kaitlyn.

“You’ve been hanging around Amy too much,” Kaitlyn told Seth as she slowly got to a sitting position on the couch and looked over to her dress uniform, now laying down beside her. “And what does that have to do with anything?” she asked, referring to Claire getting verbally berated on national television.

“Well, Amy is the only one around here who makes me waffles just the way I like them since you got all Gloomy-Mc-Doomy” Seth said. “And, like I told Grant, I feel like we owe Claire something.”

“I think I got it now. You fancy Claire, don’t you?” Kaitlyn asked.

“What? No. That’s absurd!” Seth said rather dismissively.

“Maybe she’s your unresolved conflict or issue.” Kaitlyn said.

“Hey, no, stop with that talk!” Seth begged. “Not quite ready to go until I get Jennifer Love Hewitt here!”

“Well then, I’ll quit harassing you about her if you quit trying to pressure me back to work, okay?” Kaitlyn said as she tossed a pillow at Seth, which went right through him. With a heavy sigh, Kaitlyn picked up her uniform and walked towards her bedroom to change out from her raggedy pajamas and into her dress uniform.


Grant Roberts tossed and turned in his bed. Eventually, he did the most uncharacteristic thing for a vampire – woke up in a gasp of fear. Amy Moore, who was laying beside him, stirred up and in a yawn asked “Another nightmare, love?”

“You could call it that yes,” Grant stated back.

“Was it about the war again?” Amy asked.

Grant sighed and answered Amy, “Not really. You were there, and so was Kaitlyn and Seth. And Claire. And Anya and this Clarice Stanfield. We were in a high school and singing that song from that High School Musical dealie we watched a couple nights ago.”

“Huh. Which one?”

“’Stick to the Status Quo.’”

“Interesting,” Amy noted as she stretched and settled back into a sleeping position.

“I suppose,” Grant said as he too went back to laying down. “But I just wonder what exactly its supposed to mean to me.”

“Maybe it’s whatever you have for a conscience trying to tell you to make sure you are staying true to who you are?” Amy suggested.

“Maybe. Who can really tell with dreams,” Grant rebutted. Seth then popped into the room, brandishing a frying pan. “Heard some screaming in here,” Seth said. “What is it? Hippies? Anarchists? Bolsheviks?!”

“No, just had a musical dream.” Grant said as he placed the covers over his head, trying to go back to sleep.

“Great, more reason to hate that insipid ‘Glee’ show!” Seth crowed with disdain.

“Was more from High School Musical, mate” Amy replied back in defense of Grant.

“Six of one, half a dozen of the other,” Seth said. “If anything like that existed when I was alive, I’m pretty sure it would driven me to insanity then.”

“Wouldn’t you be considered insane right now?” Amy asked.

“Possibly,” Seth said. “But that is one of the great things about being a ghost – no pesky things like sanity to hold you back.”

“Huh, sounds fascinating,” Amy commented.

“Yes, yes, it’s all fascinating!” Grant cried from under the sheets. “Why don’t you go bother Kaitlyn now and let me sleep?”

“She’s getting ready for a funeral.” Seth moped. “That and she hasn’t been the same since she got knocked around by your ex and her werewolf goon squad.”


The sound of a solitary bagpipe filled the air as Kaitlyn and five other police officers carried a casket that held the remains of Angie Newhart to her final resting place in a cemetery reserved for police officers, soldiers, and other local dignitaries. Hundreds of other officers, family members, and various politicians were in attendance on the inside of the grounds. Outside the grounds, several members of the New Sarepta Church of the People stood on a sidewalk across the street. Shouting anti-vampire slurs and carrying placards with such tasteless slogans like “Cops Die, God Laughs!”, “Fangs = Death!” and even an upside-down Canadian flag with “Doomed Fang Flag” sprayed-painted on it. One of the protestors brandished a bullhorn and was shouting more of their dogmatic propaganda towards the cemetery. Most of everyone on the inside of the cemetery ignored the ruckus outside. While it may have appeared that the church’s attempt to garner attention was futile, some of the words got through to some of the people in attendance, in particular Kaitlyn – who did her best to hide both the tears and a quiet rage building inside her.


Back at the downtown police offices, Claudia Reimer-Williams marched into Joan Sperling’s office. Not looking too pleased, Reimer-Williams slammed down a manila folder onto Sperling’s desk. “Care to explain this?” Claudia asked as Joan looked through the folder. Reading the contents aloud, Sperling said “Charlie Lamb has got himself a new lawyer and they’re appealing his conviction. Citing…”

Claudia interrupted and finished the sentence: “… Citing he’s a political prisoner who is being both wrongfully accused and persecuted by the Edmonton Police Service. I go away for about a week and all hell breaks loose. My husband is even wanting to resign from the city council and move away from here because he’s afraid for the oncoming storm that he thinks is going to happen!”

“I think you’re lacking a bit of perspective here,” Joan replied back.

“Really? Since this new chief has arrived, two bombing attacks have occurred. Hundreds of unregistered vampires were let loose. Who know how many service men and women have died in these blasts. And I’m the one who lacks perspective?” Claudia asked sarcastically.

“We have suspects in custody for the Remand Centre bombing…”

“… Which last I heard are refusing to cooperate unless a,” Claudia paused, looked on a notepad , “Detective Russo is the one conducting the interview.”

“Detective Kaitlyn Russo is currently on medical leave and is not expected to return to active duty for a while pending a psychological assessment.” Joan bluntly stated.

“Well then, I suggest you find another way to get this mess under control,” Claudia stated with frustration in her voice. “Because I got the solicitor general and public safety minister breathing down my neck about getting this situation resolved quickly. And considering the private members’ bill is a free vote, the federal government doesn’t want to seem to be doing a reactionary vote one way or another.” Claudia then took the folder she had placed on the desk back and stormed out as quickly as she came in.


“It really seems like nothing I do anymore matters,” Kaitlyn said after a sigh to Doctor Laura Whitehorse. The two of them were in Doctor Whitehorse’s office. Kaitlyn was still in her dress uniform as she wiped away a few tears from her eyes and went on to add, “Anything I could do doesn’t matter in the long sense as long as I wear this uniform.”

“You can’t hold yourself responsible for Angie’s death,” Doctor Whitehorse said.

“It’s not just that, although I have slowly come to terms with that,” Kaitlyn said. “But then getting attacked by those four men. Allowing myself to be put into a situation where I was trapped and helpless, unable to defend myself.”

“Almost similar to what happened when you were eighteen, right?”

“Yes. But this time, I fought back. I was able to go into my wolf form and scare them off. Then that bitch Anya blind-sided me and basically threatened to end my life! So if I even go into my full form, I still will be letting my guard down.”

“I may not necessary call it letting your guard down, but obviously something was holding you back, other than your ankle getting twisted.”

“It could be a couple of things holding me back. First there was Sergei.”

“Okay. You know my opinion on you possibly seeing him in a more social or romantic setting” Doctor Whitehorse said with an objecting tone.

“Yes. I know. Hell, when I first agreed to it, I still had doubts about it.” Kaitlyn came back with. “But the real thing holding me back is this,” she added while pointing to her uniform. “This badge, this uniform, everything about it has been holding me back.”

“So what would you like to do about it then?” asked Doctor Whitehorse

“That is where I am not sure anymore. I still want to serve but I can’t right now feeling like everything around me is just corrupted by evil or I myself am corrupted by evil,” Kaitlyn said.

“I would not call you corrupted by evil at all,” Doctor Whitehorse said. “I may consider your spirit in you as a misguided one in terms of modern norms. The spirit in you came at the most vulnerable part of your life – a victim of a senseless crime that never was resolved. It now wants to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen to anyone else who was similar in your story – a helpless victim that never got the justice it thought you deserved.”

“But I was willing to allow an innocent man in Bryan Daniels go to jail for my crimes. A man who I once loved, and I was willing to send him down the river for my own sins.”

“Which was why you came to me to find a way to keep it under control and to this point you have done well, which I must commend you.” Doctor Whitehorse added.

“Yes but now with everything seemingly unraveling before more, does it really matter anymore?” a slightly dejected Kaitlyn asked.

“That will be up to you to decide. You can either let that spirit in you continue to feed on hatred and anger that is misplaced, or you can turn it around and find a way to let it continue a peaceful coexistence in you.” Doctor Whitehorse said.

“You know the funny thing is, when those four men backed off me, it felt so empowering,” Kaitlyn said with a hint of satisfaction in her voice. “Then I felt something else that I haven’t felt in a long time, well I felt it before getting struck in the head by a psychotic vampire.” Looking puzzled, Doctor Whitehorse asked “What was this feeling?”

Kaitlyn took in a deep breath and answered “A feeling of belonging. Like maybe I belong with them. Not the Bratstvo Kresta, but my own kind. This shaman of your mentioned before there could be others like me out there.”

“It is possible,” Doctor Whitehorse answered back. “Perhaps finding one of your pack members would be the key to reversing your condition. But without knowing for sure if what you recalled was true, I would not recommend it at this time.”

“Then what do I do?” Kaitlyn asked.

“Right now, avoid any confrontations with these people. They obviously know what you are and only wish to exploit that for their own means. Don’t let a few weeks of doubt undo years of hard work,” Doctor Whitehorse advised.


Dusk had now fallen in the City of Champions. Outside the Humanities Building on the University of Alberta campus, the Navajo shaman was just coming outside. He paused and looked towards the sky, then around his surroundings, and then carried on walking towards the University LRT station. Unbeknownst to him, the five members of the Bratstvo Kresta were following him from behind. The Navajo man did a quick shoulder check and noticed them afterwards. The Navajo man quickly walked towards a different direction, only to have the five men follow suit. The Navajo man ran quickly as he could to the Education Parkade, hoping to hide from his would-be stalkers. Then he stopped and as if knowing they were behind him, the Navajo man called them out “I am only an old man. My time is at an end. Is there really honor in killing me?”

Vladimir, the newer member of the Bratstvo Kresta, spoke “This is not about honor. This is about sending a message.”

“What message?” the Navajo man asked defiantly as he turned around to face all five of the Bratstvo Kresta. The leader, brandishing stitches on his throat, spoke in a grisled voice, “The lady cop who is one of us, she needs to be taught a lesson in respect.”

The broken-English speaking one then added “Errand lady wanted us to kill her but we can’t.”

“I should warn you though, in my death, she may become uncontrollable and relentless. The spirit in her is about vengeance. She will not rest until all five of you are beaten and battered,” the Navajo man proclaimed with possibly his last words as four of the men shifted into wolves, leaving the leader still in human form. “Then we look forward to a fair fight with her when that time comes,” the leader said as he too took on his wolf form. All five of the wolves pounced and attacked the Navajo man. No one was around to witness this primal form of justice, except for the red-gloved man, who looked on approvingly one level up in the parking lot. He watched in a sadistic glee as the five wolves tore apart and feasted upon the body of the Navajo man.