Dark Visions

Chapter 1 “Chief Wilkinson wants you and Dustin to stop by the office. Something about a case?” Harry, the agency tech consultant, says, barely looking up from his computer and whatever case he’s working on. Ronan’s detectives, Rick and Alice, are both at their desks, and Lisa and Alan are out on separate cases. Dustin, their remaining detective and Ronan’s lover, is still outside grabbing something from the car. They’re just back from taking some pictures for Lisa’s case. “Did he say anything about the case?” Ronan used to be a police detective, six years ago, and Chris Wilkinson was his boss and friend. They’ve remained friends since Ronan set up a detective agency to deal with the weirder cases that the police couldn’t always handle, especially after the government made an official sanction saying that the supernatural wasn’t real and not to be investigated like it was, effectively tying the hands of its officers. “You know Chris. He never tells me anything unless you say it’s okay first,” Harry complains from his desk—and a computer system so complicated Ronan isn’t sure he’d be able to turn it on if he tried. No one touches Harry’s setup anyway, under threat of him going on strike and never doing any research or hacking for them again. “Chris isn’t used to how relaxed things are here. He thinks me being the boss means something different than it does.” Ronan shrugs. He’s worked with most of his team for six years and is officially in charge, but his team is more friends and family than employees. “Right, anyone need anything?” Ronan asks. “A new hand?” Alice asks. She’s filling out some forms for a request to get on some private land. They suspect a poltergeist is attacking people on the road that runs alongside it. “Don’t whine. I had to Dumpster dive this morning,” Rick says. “Any real problems?” Ronan rolls his eyes. “Nope, I’ll hold the fort while you go out,” Harry says chirpily, as always far too cheerful for someone who dresses like Billy Idol or a Spike-wannabe. “You’re going out?” Dustin asks, walking into the room. It’s been just over a year since they met, and Ronan’s stomach still flutters when he sees Dustin, his mop of messy purple hair, bright blue eyes, and goth/punk look. Ronan tried to resist getting involved with Dustin when they’d been thrown together on a case over a year ago, but he hadn’t been able to resist his charming blue-eyed devil. He hadn’t known it then, but his fate had been sealed from the first touch. Not that Dustin had known either, despite his psychic abilities. He hardly ever sees the future, let alone his own. “We’re going to see Chris,” Ronan says, wandering over to Dustin but not touching him. They try to keep the PDA to a minimum at work. They’ve kissed in front of the agency members before and cuddled a little. Despite them being his family, Ronan knows they also look up to him as their boss. He tries to lead by example and be professional, so that means no making out in the middle of the office. “Social call or work call?” Dustin asks, adjusting the sleeve of his big red hoodie. It’s way too big for his skinny frame, but it suits him, and makes Ronan want to wrap his arms around his lover and hold him tight, till he can feel the body beneath the thick, warm clothing. “Sounds like work, but you never know with Chris. He might want you to find his kids another pet. See the rest of you later.” Ronan waves and starts to leave. Before Dustin started using his psychic powers full time to help the agency, he’d been living in another town, volunteering at shelters, some for people but most for animals. After Dustin moved into an apartment in Fresno, near Ronan, and gotten settled, he’d gotten in touch with local animal charities. Now he spends time between cases helping out, and he has a habit of setting people up with the perfect pet. Once they’re out the office and on the stairs heading down, Ronan slips his hand into Dustin’s. Ronan dips his head as he smiles. They get to Ronan’s car and have to untangle their fingers so Ronan can let them in. Dustin doesn’t drive, out of fear he’ll crash if he has a vision while driving, since they can hit him without warning, anytime, anywhere. When they do hit, it’s almost like a seizure. He becomes totally absent and loses control of his body. “If this is work, are you ready for another case?” Ronan asks as he starts driving. The police station is a destination he thinks he could reach with his eyes closed. He’s driven there so many times, both when he worked as a detective, and now as a PI. He often goes to see Chris, both just to talk and to help with cases. “Yeah, I think so. The doc adjusted my dosage, so hopefully no migraines on the next case. I know I worried you, and I slowed you down a little.” Dustin sighs. He’s always suffered from headaches, and sometimes migraines. On the last case, a bad migraine hit while they’d been working, which made it hard for Dustin to read things, and admittedly had worried Ronan. “You didn’t slow me down, but I was worried. That was the worst migraine I’ve seen, and I hated you were trying to work through it when you should have been in bed resting.” Ronan had felt awful, seeing him in pain and not being able to do anything. There was no monster to fight, no bad guy to shoot, not when the problem was Dustin’s own body, his own head causing him pain. Ronan isn’t used to being helpless, and he doesn’t like the feeling one little bit. “I’m cool now, though. You made me take time off. You did all my paperwork and reports for me. You cooked for me. You didn’t call me till noon, in case I was sleeping late. You did everything you could, and now I’m well rested, pain free, and ready to work,” Dustin says firmly. “You promise?” Ronan presses as they get closer to the station. “I promise. You know I wouldn’t lie to you about my health. I’m not that stupid,” Dustin promises. Ronan smiles, and it’s not long before he’s finding a place to park and getting out of the car. No one looks surprised to see Ronan and Dustin walk into the station, but then, it’s far from the first time they’ve been here together. The officer on reception has been told to send them straight through, and they weave through desks to get to Chris’s office. Even though people don’t question why they’re there, they still get looks. Ronan gets looks because he’s a gay ex-cop who set up a monster hunting business, and Dustin gets stares because of his style—and for being known as a psychic. Ronan knocks on Chris’s office door, and Chris yells to come in. When Ronan opens the door, Chris smiles and waves them in. Ronan and Dustin walk in, closing the door and taking seats on the opposite side of Chris’s desk. “How are you boys doing?” Chris asks. It’s been a while since they last saw Chris, at least two weeks since they went to his family’s home for dinner. “Not bad. Just finished a case with a possessed dog.” They’d been lucky to get through the case without being bitten, but once they’d tracked down the once mild-mannered family pet, they’d had to put him down. It had upset Dustin, with his love of animals, but it had needed to be done. The dog had been cursed to kill all of its teenage master’s enemies and had already torn one bully apart. The teen had found a book and hadn’t realized what kind of revenge he was going to get. “Christ, you find the weirdest s**t. And speaking of, I have a case that might be your speed. I told the police there I’d get in touch with you,” Chris says. “Police where?” Dustin asks. “New Orleans. I heard something, got in touch with someone down there. You know how cops talk.” Chris rolls his eyes. Some cops gossip about cases more than old people. “That’s a five and a half hour flight, at least. Direct flight, take us a day of traveling, at least,” Ronan says thoughtfully. He’s been to New Orleans before, but only passing through. “The family involved is pretty wealthy. They’re willing to pay for your travel and time getting there, as well as time spent on the case, accommodation too. Everything fully covered. It’d be like a vacation.” Chris grins. “You think it’s an easy case, then?” Ronan asks. “It might not even be supernatural. A guy, Jim Davis, was out hunting in the swamps for rats. He was due back Monday morning. He doesn’t show up. They go looking for him and find his campsite abandoned. Everything’s perfect. No signs of animal attacks, just everything left, even his clothes and shoes he was last seen wearing—folded in his tent. Seems weird, but he could have just got drunk and lost,” Chris replies. “We do missing people. If I go to the campsite, I should be able to find him,” Dustin says. They’ve located a range of missing people before, from kidnapped to runaway. Their first case together had been about missing women, and they’d found all but one alive. “I thought you’d be against going all that way for a job the locals can probably do. I know you hate flying.” Ronan doesn’t want to talk about Dustin’s business in front of Chris, but Dustin suffers with anxiety. He’s on medication, which helps a lot, but flying is one of the things that aggravates it. They’ve only done a short flight before, and Dustin was tense and pale the whole time. “Flying isn’t my favorite thing, but I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans, and I’m not going to drive for thirty hours to get there. This case will give me a reason to push myself, see if I need to look into meds that’ll work with what I’m on already for next time.” Dustin shrugs. “We’ll go, find this guy, and have a little vacation. I know we travel together for work all the time, but when do we ever go someplace just for fun? Do tourist s**t,” Dustin says. “That does sound like fun: look around the French Quarter, hit some bars, eat some good food. I think you’ll love it there. It’s colorful, like you, but you might need to wear less. It’s still pretty warm there this time of year,” Ronan teases. “You just want to see me naked.” Dustin raises an eyebrow, and before Ronan can reply, Chris clears his throat. “I’ll tell them you’ll take the case, then, and have the local cops send over any information they have.” Chris grins, not looking too ruffled by their back and forth. “Okay, then. Just give me a text when you’ve sent it, and I’ll check in with Harry. I better go pack. With it being a missing persons case, I’m sure they want us to be on our way as soon as possible,” Ronan says thoughtfully. “Drop me off first?” Dustin asks. “Of course. Talk to you later, Chris,” Ronan says, standing up. “Let me know when you get the information, and then when you land,” Chris says, and Ronan knows he worries about them. Chris has become more and more like a father figure to Ronan. “We’ll keep in touch,” Ronan replies. Dustin and Ronan say goodbye to Chris and head out. “I’ll drop you off at your apartment and then go to my place. We can pack, and I’ll message Harry, so he can set everything up. If we can leave tonight, it’d be good, but I’m sure we’ll get a flight for tomorrow morning if not,” Ronan says, starting the car and heading for Dustin’s apartment. “Sounds like a plan, but I’ll text Harry now, get the ball rolling faster,” Dustin says, pulling his cell phone out of the pocket of his tight black jeans. Ronan drops Dustin off at his apartment, leaning over for a quick kiss before Dustin gets out. Dustin leans into the kiss, his fingertips gently touching Ronan’s jaw, and it’s a subtle touch, light and delicate, but it makes Ronan’s heart skip a beat as much as the kiss does. He’d thought he’d get use to the way Dustin makes him feel, but Ronan isn’t sure he’ll ever get used to it. He’s pretty sure he’s in love with Dustin, but something has been keeping him from saying the words out loud, maybe because of his family. He’d once had a loving mother and father, and Sarah, his angel of a little sister. He’d loved them. He’d said it every day. Then Sarah had been murdered by a water spirit, his mother had left him to start a new family, and his father had killed himself. Ronan doesn’t think he’s told a person he loves them since. “I won’t be long,” Ronan says, even though he wants to say something more, something with meaning. He’s doubtful this is the right time or place, parked outside Dustin’s apartment block, in Ronan’s car, getting ready for a case. A case that will also be a vacation. Maybe that would be a better time for a romantic declaration, Ronan thinks. He can picture a nice meal, candlelight, and finally putting words to the feeling that has been building in his heart for over a year. “I’ll try to be fast. Not sure what to pack for this trip. I’ll wing it. But are you okay? Your energy was a little off,” Dustin says with a frown, opening his door but not getting out of the car, and one of the things about dating a psychic is that it’s hard to hide your moods. “I’m fine. Just thinking about a million things at once,” Ronan says, which isn’t a total lie, but he’s not baring his soul right here and now. He’s waiting for a romantic moment. “Okay, maybe this trip will be good for you. You can relax, have some drinks, explore. It’ll be fun,” Dustin says, getting out of the car and leaning in to say goodbye. “Go get packed, and do you still have the meds the doctor gave you to help you relax? Maybe you can use them for the flight?” Ronan says. “I have some Xanax. Good idea. I’ll take some once we know when the flight is.” Dustin takes a step back and closes the car door, waving before he heads for his building. Ronan drives to his own place, parks, and lets himself in. Ronan texts a little with Harry as he packs and gets ready to leave for a few days, doing things like turning his heat off. Ronan’s used to traveling and has traveled with Dustin before. When they first met, they’d driven across several states, hunting down a Sanguis demon that’d kidnapped a large group of women to feed from. He gets out his suitcase and a travel bag and sets to work. It’s not long before he’s locking up his house and heading back to pick up Dustin, who surprises him by being ready when Ronan texts him—he often takes longer. They get a text from Harry saying everything they need is in their emails, including flight details and where they’ll be staying in New Orleans. “He’s good at what he does.” Dustin smiles. “The best.” Ronan’s proud of his team and the work they do together. He heads for the airport instead of back to the agency office, and Ronan pays to park his car. Ronan does feel bad for the missing man, even though he probably just did something stupid, like get drunk alone in a swamp, but he’s also excited to be going on this trip with Dustin. Once they’ve checked their luggage, and they have a free hand each, Ronan takes Dustin’s hand. He’s ready for another adventure.