Vampire Cop (The Vampire Legacy Book One), Page 3
Sheri Kurtz
CHAPTER TWO
As I collected the rest of the file and headed for my own office, I found myself stumped. Like I told you earlier, vampire bite marks vanish in a matter of minutes. Something didn’t add up here. I had my work cut out for me on this one. How was I going to prove this wasn’t the work of a vampire without letting on I am one?
“Hey Anderson, What do you make of the murder victim?” I looked up to find Davis standing at my door. Lieutenant John Davis is thirty-eight years old with black hair, brown eyes. I’m guessing he’s about 5’8 and around 195 pounds.
“I don’t know what to think. This just doesn’t seem right.” Answering as he followed me into my office.
“Well, you would know what a vampire bite looks like. I mean, you are a vampire, aren’t you? Or was I just seeing things when you growled at me. You do have fangs, right?” Asking all of this after he closed the door.
“That answers my question on that subject. You didn’t say anything so I was hoping you hadn’t seen. At least you don’t treat me any different than before.” I set the file down and rubbed my forehead. I was starting to get a really big headache.
“Look, let’s get this over with before it starts to cause trouble. You have given me no reason not to trust you. So I wasn’t worried about it. A little on the confused side and I was thinking I needed a cat scan for a while there but, other than that, it’s all good. I just have two questions for you.” He took the seat in front of my desk and leaned in toward me.
“Fire away.”
“Have you ever bitten me and does your family know?”
“Hell no I’ve never bitten you and are you CRAZY? You see how my father is acting about this. He would stake me in the heart faster than anyone. And by the way, don’t be fooled by that. Humans die from a stake in the heart, too, ya know.”
Looking very relieved, Davis started to laugh. “Okay, sorry. I just had to know. And your secret is safe with me.”
“So, let’s get to this murder. Like I said, this doesn’t make sense. Vampire bites would not have been there long enough for anyone to get a picture of them. So it looks like we have some sort of wannabe on our hands.” I open my desk drawer and grab my bottle of Excedrin to head off this pain before it gets worse.
“Okay, slow down, Anderson. If we are going to work on this then I need to know the facts about vampires. What is true and what is not. You just said vampire bites don’t last long enough for a picture to be taken. What else doesn’t fit?”
I filled Davis in on all the facts about vamps. When he found out I had on a silver cross and chain, his jaw hit the floor. It went through the floor when I told him holy water has no effect on us.
“Wow. That just contradicted everything I have ever read about vamps. Or should I just say vampires because I’m a human?” The last was asked with a grin.
“Smart ass, call me what you want, just don’t do it in front of anyone.”
The knock at the door made us both jump. After what we had just been talking about, neither of us wanted to be overheard. When Davis opened the door we were greeted with more bad news.
“Hey boss, there has been another body found with the same bite marks on her neck.” Officer Adams said from the door. Nice guy but if he kissed my ass any more than he already did he might as well just glue his lips there.
Davis and I got the locations of both murder scenes and headed out. Well, so much for my morning coffee. Guess I’ll just have to stop off at the local convenience store and visit my two favorite ladies.
As we drove to the store (which has great coffee, no lie, better than Starbucks, and cheaper) we went over more of what is true and not true about vampires. When we got to the store, Davis had one of his smartass remarks to make about me always stopping there.
“Good morning Deputy Anderson and Lieutenant Davis. How are you today?” Julie Connors is in her late forties and owns this shop. She has shoulder length brown hair and is, maybe, about fifty pounds overweight. That doesn't matter. She carries herself well. Her brown eyes are as bright as stars and sparkle when she smiles.
“Good morning Julie, you look lovely this morning. I’ll be doing just fine as soon as I get a large cup of your wonderful coffee. How are you this morning and where is your lovely daughter?” Julie loves it when I flirt with her. Although we both know it’s her daughter Casey I really like. That would be why Davis always has a smartass remark about me coming here. I just can’t work up the nerve to ask her out.
“Oh, Casey is around. Do you want sugar and cream this morning or is it a blacker the better kind of day?”
“The blacker the better please, start the day off right. Davis, what do you want? It’s my treat.”
“Oh shit! What’s wrong? You’re paying?” Davis took a few steps back like I was going for his main artery.
“Do I need to remind you why we are out in the field so early in the morning? I’m just trying to be nice.” I gave him a glance out of the corner of my eye just to let him know I was only partly being a smartass. Yes, I’m good at that too.
As I was paying for the two coffees and the Danish for Davis, Casey came out of the back room. She looked like an angel. She is just a few months younger than I am. She has jet black hair which is the perfect complement for her complexion. Her long lashes outline her amazing green eyes, which is odd for someone with black hair. She is about 5’7” and around 126 pounds. Just guessing on the weight, I would never be dumb enough to ask her. The beige jeans and teal shirt she is wearing outlines her figure and makes her look even more angelic.
“Hello, gentlemen, how are things going?” She asks giving one of her million dollar smiles.
Without waiting for an answer she looks at me and calls me to the side.
“Deputy, I heard about the murder from last night that looks like a vampire attack. You don’t really believe a vamp did this do you?”
“No, I don’t. Why do you ask?” Something about the way she asked me just didn't sit well, but I couldn't put my finger on why.
“I was just wondering. I thought vampires were made up. You know, not real. It's kind of unnerving to think something that could drain all the blood out of someone is real.” It’s the innocent smile that gets me every time.
“I see your point. Don’t worry, Casey. I’m sure this is not the work of a vampire.” I still couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me so bad.
Davis and I grabbed our things and said our goodbyes. When we got back into the car I explained Casey’s reason for calling me over.
“How many non-vampires do you know who don't know the truth call vampires vamps?” Davis had hit the nail on the head.
“That’s it! She said vamps. Which means she knows we are real, but how?” This had me worried.
“Do you think she knows you are one? Have you ever given her reason to believe you are? Or, could she be one?” Davis brought up some good questions.
“I don’t know how she could have found out I’m a vamp. As for her being one, I have no idea. It’s not like we can spot those who don’t want to be found.”
We arrived at the crime scene from this morning; the second of the two. It was located at the county park. The park has two parking lots; one on either side. A quarter mile track surrounds one area with a picnic area and play ground. Outside of this trail, on the other side from where we parked, is a small creek that flows from a wooded area alongside the track. A bridge over the creek leads to the other side that has another picnic area with another playground. For avid walkers and runners, there are two track choices. The first is the quarter mile track around the park. The second is a branch off trail that leads into the woods and back around to the first track. This second choice adds another quarter mile with small foot hills for more of a challenge. This is where the second murder happened.
We walked over to where the victim is. We find her lying on her back with her head turned to the right. Her blonde hair was scattered around her head like the head of a deck mop after being
twirled around and dropped into place before mopping. There were two small puncture wounds on the left side of her neck. Blood had left a trail down her neck and soaked into her light pink tank top. Her jogging shorts came down to around mid-thigh and she is wearing a pair of running shoes. It looked like she was caught off guard while jogging. This was all wrong.
“Okay, what do we know about vampires? Does anyone believe they are anything but fiction?” This was coming from a big butch type chick from the crime scene unit. Amy, I think her is name. She has short brown hair is cut like most military men wear theirs. She also carries herself like a man. Her brown eyes are set deep in a face that reminds me of a bulldog. The frame of her body is that of a body builder. Geez, why would someone do that to themselves? I’ll never understand it.
“Why do you assume this is a vampire attack? This could just as well be some punk kid getting a jolly off on the fact they have you fooled. Who knows, this could be anything.” I know I jumped at that the wrong way. And the look from Davis confirmed my thoughts. But what can I say, I am a vampire and I never really liked Amy. Or whatever her name is. I never cared enough to check.
“Everything I have read about vampires says their attacks look just like this and both murders occurred at night. What else can this be?” I walked away leaving Davis to deal with it. I couldn’t help but laugh. Humans like her make them all look dumb. Man was she a know it all that didn’t know shit about what she was saying.
She walked away in a huff and I returned to the victim, feeling relieved she was gone. It always bugs the shit out of me when a crime scene investigator thinks they know it all. In this case, I can’t even prove her wrong right now. Unless I want to give myself away, that is.
Davis and I finished gathering what we needed and headed to the other scene. As I drove, we went over what we knew of the murders. Both were committed at night, both had what looked like vampire bite marks, and both victims were drained of blood. None of these facts added up. Our saliva’s healing ability works even when the heart has stopped, vamps do not kill the ones they feed from, which also means they do not drain them of blood, either. Vampires fear the Dominant Vampires too much to be this careless. Besides, truth be known, if a vampire drank that much blood, we’d be too full to move or could even get sick. Drinking too much blood for a vampire is like a human eating too much food.
“Anderson, how do people turn into vampires and how do vampires get their blood?” With Davis asking this, I snapped out of my own little world.
“Most vamps feed from those they know. Not like family. But close friends. These friends normally know who and what they are and are willing to give blood. That is not to say some do not feed off of those who have no clue what is going on. Like a blind date or something. These sources of blood are the ones that don’t know they have been bitten. Vampires have rules they have to follow just like humans do. We have to follow human laws as well as the ones set by the Dominate Vampires. For someone to be turned into a vampire, they have to be willing. Vamps can’t just choose their victim and bite them. And it takes more than one bite too. There has to be blood exchanged two different times for it to work. A human won’t change just because they are bitten.” This makes me think of the day I changed. It is true we have great eye sight and hearing. Everything was new to me. Sounds, sights, it was almost too much.
“So, you are saying you willingly turned into a vampire?” Davis sounded shocked at this.
“That depends on how you look at it. I was left for dead in the woods when a vampire found me and offered the choice. I was too far gone to make it to a hospital. So, I chose not to die.” I never told anyone about the attack. Too many questions would have been asked and then the truth would have come out. I was also way too scared to say anything.
We rode in silence the rest of the way. I didn’t want to talk anymore and Davis didn’t know what to say.
As I collected the rest of the file and headed for my own office, I found myself stumped. Like I told you earlier, vampire bite marks vanish in a matter of minutes. Something didn’t add up here. I had my work cut out for me on this one. How was I going to prove this wasn’t the work of a vampire without letting on I am one?
“Hey Anderson, What do you make of the murder victim?” I looked up to find Davis standing at my door. Lieutenant John Davis is thirty-eight years old with black hair, brown eyes. I’m guessing he’s about 5’8 and around 195 pounds.
“I don’t know what to think. This just doesn’t seem right.” Answering as he followed me into my office.
“Well, you would know what a vampire bite looks like. I mean, you are a vampire, aren’t you? Or was I just seeing things when you growled at me. You do have fangs, right?” Asking all of this after he closed the door.
“That answers my question on that subject. You didn’t say anything so I was hoping you hadn’t seen. At least you don’t treat me any different than before.” I set the file down and rubbed my forehead. I was starting to get a really big headache.
“Look, let’s get this over with before it starts to cause trouble. You have given me no reason not to trust you. So I wasn’t worried about it. A little on the confused side and I was thinking I needed a cat scan for a while there but, other than that, it’s all good. I just have two questions for you.” He took the seat in front of my desk and leaned in toward me.
“Fire away.”
“Have you ever bitten me and does your family know?”
“Hell no I’ve never bitten you and are you CRAZY? You see how my father is acting about this. He would stake me in the heart faster than anyone. And by the way, don’t be fooled by that. Humans die from a stake in the heart, too, ya know.”
Looking very relieved, Davis started to laugh. “Okay, sorry. I just had to know. And your secret is safe with me.”
“So, let’s get to this murder. Like I said, this doesn’t make sense. Vampire bites would not have been there long enough for anyone to get a picture of them. So it looks like we have some sort of wannabe on our hands.” I open my desk drawer and grab my bottle of Excedrin to head off this pain before it gets worse.
“Okay, slow down, Anderson. If we are going to work on this then I need to know the facts about vampires. What is true and what is not. You just said vampire bites don’t last long enough for a picture to be taken. What else doesn’t fit?”
I filled Davis in on all the facts about vamps. When he found out I had on a silver cross and chain, his jaw hit the floor. It went through the floor when I told him holy water has no effect on us.
“Wow. That just contradicted everything I have ever read about vamps. Or should I just say vampires because I’m a human?” The last was asked with a grin.
“Smart ass, call me what you want, just don’t do it in front of anyone.”
The knock at the door made us both jump. After what we had just been talking about, neither of us wanted to be overheard. When Davis opened the door we were greeted with more bad news.
“Hey boss, there has been another body found with the same bite marks on her neck.” Officer Adams said from the door. Nice guy but if he kissed my ass any more than he already did he might as well just glue his lips there.
Davis and I got the locations of both murder scenes and headed out. Well, so much for my morning coffee. Guess I’ll just have to stop off at the local convenience store and visit my two favorite ladies.
As we drove to the store (which has great coffee, no lie, better than Starbucks, and cheaper) we went over more of what is true and not true about vampires. When we got to the store, Davis had one of his smartass remarks to make about me always stopping there.
“Good morning Deputy Anderson and Lieutenant Davis. How are you today?” Julie Connors is in her late forties and owns this shop. She has shoulder length brown hair and is, maybe, about fifty pounds overweight. That doesn't matter. She carries herself well. Her brown eyes are as bright as stars and sparkle when she smiles.
“Good morning Julie, you look lovely this morning. I’ll be doing just fine as soon as I get a large cup of your wonderful coffee. How are you this morning and where is your lovely daughter?” Julie loves it when I flirt with her. Although we both know it’s her daughter Casey I really like. That would be why Davis always has a smartass remark about me coming here. I just can’t work up the nerve to ask her out.
“Oh, Casey is around. Do you want sugar and cream this morning or is it a blacker the better kind of day?”
“The blacker the better please, start the day off right. Davis, what do you want? It’s my treat.”
“Oh shit! What’s wrong? You’re paying?” Davis took a few steps back like I was going for his main artery.
“Do I need to remind you why we are out in the field so early in the morning? I’m just trying to be nice.” I gave him a glance out of the corner of my eye just to let him know I was only partly being a smartass. Yes, I’m good at that too.
As I was paying for the two coffees and the Danish for Davis, Casey came out of the back room. She looked like an angel. She is just a few months younger than I am. She has jet black hair which is the perfect complement for her complexion. Her long lashes outline her amazing green eyes, which is odd for someone with black hair. She is about 5’7” and around 126 pounds. Just guessing on the weight, I would never be dumb enough to ask her. The beige jeans and teal shirt she is wearing outlines her figure and makes her look even more angelic.
“Hello, gentlemen, how are things going?” She asks giving one of her million dollar smiles.
Without waiting for an answer she looks at me and calls me to the side.
“Deputy, I heard about the murder from last night that looks like a vampire attack. You don’t really believe a vamp did this do you?”
“No, I don’t. Why do you ask?” Something about the way she asked me just didn't sit well, but I couldn't put my finger on why.
“I was just wondering. I thought vampires were made up. You know, not real. It's kind of unnerving to think something that could drain all the blood out of someone is real.” It’s the innocent smile that gets me every time.
“I see your point. Don’t worry, Casey. I’m sure this is not the work of a vampire.” I still couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me so bad.
Davis and I grabbed our things and said our goodbyes. When we got back into the car I explained Casey’s reason for calling me over.
“How many non-vampires do you know who don't know the truth call vampires vamps?” Davis had hit the nail on the head.
“That’s it! She said vamps. Which means she knows we are real, but how?” This had me worried.
“Do you think she knows you are one? Have you ever given her reason to believe you are? Or, could she be one?” Davis brought up some good questions.
“I don’t know how she could have found out I’m a vamp. As for her being one, I have no idea. It’s not like we can spot those who don’t want to be found.”
We arrived at the crime scene from this morning; the second of the two. It was located at the county park. The park has two parking lots; one on either side. A quarter mile track surrounds one area with a picnic area and play ground. Outside of this trail, on the other side from where we parked, is a small creek that flows from a wooded area alongside the track. A bridge over the creek leads to the other side that has another picnic area with another playground. For avid walkers and runners, there are two track choices. The first is the quarter mile track around the park. The second is a branch off trail that leads into the woods and back around to the first track. This second choice adds another quarter mile with small foot hills for more of a challenge. This is where the second murder happened.
We walked over to where the victim is. We find her lying on her back with her head turned to the right. Her blonde hair was scattered around her head like the head of a deck mop after being
twirled around and dropped into place before mopping. There were two small puncture wounds on the left side of her neck. Blood had left a trail down her neck and soaked into her light pink tank top. Her jogging shorts came down to around mid-thigh and she is wearing a pair of running shoes. It looked like she was caught off guard while jogging. This was all wrong.
“Okay, what do we know about vampires? Does anyone believe they are anything but fiction?” This was coming from a big butch type chick from the crime scene unit. Amy, I think her is name. She has short brown hair is cut like most military men wear theirs. She also carries herself like a man. Her brown eyes are set deep in a face that reminds me of a bulldog. The frame of her body is that of a body builder. Geez, why would someone do that to themselves? I’ll never understand it.
“Why do you assume this is a vampire attack? This could just as well be some punk kid getting a jolly off on the fact they have you fooled. Who knows, this could be anything.” I know I jumped at that the wrong way. And the look from Davis confirmed my thoughts. But what can I say, I am a vampire and I never really liked Amy. Or whatever her name is. I never cared enough to check.
“Everything I have read about vampires says their attacks look just like this and both murders occurred at night. What else can this be?” I walked away leaving Davis to deal with it. I couldn’t help but laugh. Humans like her make them all look dumb. Man was she a know it all that didn’t know shit about what she was saying.
She walked away in a huff and I returned to the victim, feeling relieved she was gone. It always bugs the shit out of me when a crime scene investigator thinks they know it all. In this case, I can’t even prove her wrong right now. Unless I want to give myself away, that is.
Davis and I finished gathering what we needed and headed to the other scene. As I drove, we went over what we knew of the murders. Both were committed at night, both had what looked like vampire bite marks, and both victims were drained of blood. None of these facts added up. Our saliva’s healing ability works even when the heart has stopped, vamps do not kill the ones they feed from, which also means they do not drain them of blood, either. Vampires fear the Dominant Vampires too much to be this careless. Besides, truth be known, if a vampire drank that much blood, we’d be too full to move or could even get sick. Drinking too much blood for a vampire is like a human eating too much food.
“Anderson, how do people turn into vampires and how do vampires get their blood?” With Davis asking this, I snapped out of my own little world.
“Most vamps feed from those they know. Not like family. But close friends. These friends normally know who and what they are and are willing to give blood. That is not to say some do not feed off of those who have no clue what is going on. Like a blind date or something. These sources of blood are the ones that don’t know they have been bitten. Vampires have rules they have to follow just like humans do. We have to follow human laws as well as the ones set by the Dominate Vampires. For someone to be turned into a vampire, they have to be willing. Vamps can’t just choose their victim and bite them. And it takes more than one bite too. There has to be blood exchanged two different times for it to work. A human won’t change just because they are bitten.” This makes me think of the day I changed. It is true we have great eye sight and hearing. Everything was new to me. Sounds, sights, it was almost too much.
“So, you are saying you willingly turned into a vampire?” Davis sounded shocked at this.
“That depends on how you look at it. I was left for dead in the woods when a vampire found me and offered the choice. I was too far gone to make it to a hospital. So, I chose not to die.” I never told anyone about the attack. Too many questions would have been asked and then the truth would have come out. I was also way too scared to say anything.
We rode in silence the rest of the way. I didn’t want to talk anymore and Davis didn’t know what to say.
