The Vampire Council: Case File:1

by Steve Cunningham

  ‘So we just look for the name and call?’ Asks Jeff.

  ‘That’s exactly it, just like a mobile phone. But unlike a mobile please don’t lose these, don’t worry about accidently breaking these they are shatterproof and waterproof, and lastly keep them on your persons at all times, you never know when you may get a call.’ Replies the woman. ‘That’s everything I need to go through with you, please escort yourselves out, familiarise yourself as to where this building is located and I shall see you again when you get your first call.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Says Jeff as he turns and heads towards the main door. Katie follows still scared. Will stays at the desk and leans on the desk in a flirtatious manor. ‘So with this I can phone you whenever I please?’ He says trying to make his voice sound as sexy and rugged as possible. ‘Mine’s a one way number sorry, only I can contact you, and for your information, there’s no need for you to put on this rugged routine with me.’ She states.

  ‘Really?’ Will says surprised.

  ‘No of course not. You’d have no chance either way.’ She says as she looks up at his face.

  ‘Will! Move your arse!’ Shouts Jeff from the doorway.

  ‘Ok! I’m coming!’ Will shouts back at him. Will straightens himself out physically showing the woman behind the counter that he’s brushing off her remarks. He notices she isn’t paying any attention to him so he turns and heads towards the door in a slump.

  † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † †

  ‘Katie! Come back!’ Shouts Jeff, as he chases Katie over a grass hill not far from the hotel. Situated at the other side of the hill is a small pond in which Katie throws herself into and flings her arms around with such force it propels water all over her as she lets out screams of anger and horror. Jeff stops himself at the water’s edge as he turns to see Will clambering down the hill shocked at what he was witnessing. Will joins Jeff at the water’s edge as Katie has calmed down slightly just standing still soaking wet staring towards the setting sun in front of her. Will begins to walk into the water to fetch Katie, Jeff lays his hand on Will’s shoulder and stops him. ‘Just let her sink it all in.’

  ‘It’s a lot to process.’ Will retorts.

  ‘It sure is. I still can’t kind of believe it myself, I was just a simple happy family man and now, this, a vampire. I didn’t even believe vampire’s existed.’ Jeff slowly lowers himself to the ground, now knelt. ‘Why us Will? Out of the thousands of people in this city, why us? Why were we chosen?’ Jeff gets slightly aggressive as he jumps to his feet and grabs Will by the scruff of his shirt collar. ‘And chosen for what Will? Why the fuck has this happened?’

  Will notices that Jeff’s eyes are slowly turning pitch black and his grip gets ever so tighter.

  ‘Calm down Jeff! You’re changing!’

  ‘This is who we are now, why not embrace it!’ Jeff shouts as his canine teeth turns into fangs and lifts Will off the ground like he is weightless.

  ‘Jeff! Stop, please!’ Will tries to plead as he kicks at Jeff to let him down. ‘Put me the fuck down!’ Will’s eyes darken and fangs appear in his mouth, with this new found strength Will manages to kick Jeff with such power it forces Jeff to drop Will to the ground. Both return back to human as they slowly get to their feet.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Explains Jeff as he helps Will to his feet. ‘I just don’t understand.’

  ‘None of us do Jeff. Maybe it will become clearer in time but as for now there’s nothing more we can do except act normal and wait for the call.’ States Will as he pats the phone in his pocket.

  They both turn and look at Katie who has been kneeling in the water watching what had just happened between her two new partners. She speaks softly as she heads her way to the grass. ‘Does it hurt?’

  ‘No.’ Will explains.

  ‘It looks scary.’

  ‘There’s nothing to it, it’s just a strange feeling nothing painful about it,’ Will continues.

  ‘Do you want to try it?’ Asks Jeff.

  ‘No. I want it to be natural.’ Katie answers.

  Jeff turns away from Katie and leans into Will and whispers into his ear, ‘There’s nothing natural about this.’

  The team head back to the top of the hill. Will has his arm around Katie comforting her. Jeff turns to them. ‘It’s getting dark. Will, take her home.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Asks Katie.

  ‘I’m going to walk, just need to clear my head before going home to the family.’

  ‘Shit. That’s going to be tough keeping this from them.’ Will states under his breath.

  ‘Not much else I can do.’ Jeff runs his hands down his face as he lets off a groan of exhaustion. ‘Get her home, be safe.’

  Will nods. Will puts his arm around Katie’s shoulders and pulls her in as they walk away, Katie wraps her arms around Will as she begins to weep. Jeff watches them get to the main road before he turns around with a determined look on his face as he stares directly at the Ruby Hotel, like an Olympic runner Jeff sprints towards the hotel.

  CHAPTER 3:

  JEFF MEETS TESSA

  Jeff stands on the street opposite the Ruby Hotel. He’s looking for answers, but knows he cannot just walk through the front door and ask for them. The street lights have just started to turn on one by one, making the streets a flood of unnatural light. Jeff watches as a stream of what he believes all to be vampires walking in and out of the hotel. He clocks onto a male and a female walk out of the hotel then proceed down the dark alley beside the building. The male looked about 6’1 not that well-built, he wore a suit and tie. His hair long black and greased back. The female however was wearing a peculiar outfit which resembles something close to an assassins choice of clothing, her hair was long and black tied up tight in a pigtail. Jeff heads across the road and stands by the entrance to the alleyway and eavesdrops on the vampires’ conversation.

  ‘Tessa I’m telling you I’ve got it all under control.’ Dirk shouts at the female vampire.

  ‘Stop trying to convince yourself this, nothing the great and wonderful Dirk has is enough to fulfil what Ana wants.’ Tessa shouts directly into Dirks face. Dirk pushes Tessa against the wall. ‘You have not the faintest idea what Ana is or what it’s actually used for. I’ll tell you, it’s not a define prophesy that will bring answers and cures to the curse we have been given or will it create something that will help us not feel the hunger anymore. No. These are all lies fed to you by The One.’ Dirk explains as he holds Tessa against the wall by her neck.

  ‘Then what is it used for?’ Tessa coughs in pain.

  ‘Ana is a programme. A group. Created by me. A group with the sole purpose of sorting out this mess The One has put us in.’ Dirk lets go of Tessa and lets her fall to the ground, she rives in pain on the cold gravel.

  ‘You’re a fucking madman Dirk! You haven’t spared a single thought for anyone if you go ahead with what I think Ana is. It’s treason Dirk.’ Tessa coughs and sputters.

  ‘That’s a word that’s thrown at me far too often. I’m not committing treason, your precious vampire council couldn’t prove it. I’m committing a courageous act that will change the face of this organization forever.’ Dirk pulls out a gun from a holster under his jacket and aims it at Tessa’s head. ‘And I’m sorry Tess but my new organization has no room for you.’

  ‘Hey!’ Shouts Jeff as he jumps into the alleyway.

  ‘Well, well, well. What do we have here? You’re one of us, I can tell, but alas only a rookie. So why don’t you just move on out of here, and I won’t say no more about it.’ Dirk explains as he raises his gun at Jeff.

  ‘It’s not me you should be worried about.’ Jeff slightly shouts as he points behind Dirk. Tessa punches Dirk square in the face, darkness covers her eyes. Dirk falls to the floor and drops his gun. Tessa walks over to it, picks it up, cocks it and aims it at a now empty patch of ground where a beaten Dirk once laid not moments ago. Tessa looks round trying to sense where Dirk has gone,
Jeff fails to notice Dirk suddenly appear behind him, dark eyed, pulls out a knife and rams the steel blade deep in Jeff’s back. Tessa quickly turns and points the gun at Dirk.

  ‘Oh look what I’ve done. I’m a bad vampire killing my own kind.’

  ‘You’re not going to get away with this Dirk.’ The gun now shaking in her hands.

  ‘What do you mean going I’ve already gotten away with it. Ana is the perfect plan. All these random killings like this poor guy here will just be shrugged off as either a rogue vampire killing, a mercenary killing or a vampire hunter killing, no one will suspect a rank A vampire like myself to be behind any of this, including the final conclusion.’

  ‘I’ll tell the council.’

  ‘Tell them what Tess? They won’t take notice, I’ve already been trialled and got a not guilty verdict they’re not going to waste their time going through all that again, besides they wouldn’t believe a rogue vampire anyway.’

  ‘You know why I chose to be rogue.’

  ‘Because you didn’t want to be under the council’s strict ruling, and also chose not to be part of the Ana programme.’

  ‘I intend to take you and your programme down.’

  ‘Then why haven’t you. All this time we’ve been standing here chatting and you’re pointing a gun at me and not once has your finger even slightly twitched on that trigger. Here’s what I suggest, you put the gun down and I walk out of here, whilst you save this dying vampire at my feet.’

  Tessa stares into Dirks eyes for a moment, lets out a sigh as she lowers the gun towards the ground. Dirk straightens out his tie and walks off down the street not once looking back.

  ‘Can you hear me?’ Tessa speaks softly as she holds Jeff up under her arm. Jeff makes mErmuring noises to indicate he is still alive, but only just. Tessa pulls the knife out of Jeff’s back, blood covers the gravel around his body, the knife and his clothes. Tessa takes the knife, rolls up a sleeve and proceeds to slowly dig the knife into her wrist cutting along the veins until blood begins to poor out. She throws the knife behind her as she rubs her fresh bleeding cut on Jeff’s mouth. First there is no reaction out of Jeff until his eyes slowly open once again showing empty darkness. He begins to suck on that cut the blood only making him stronger and stronger. He grabs Tessa’s arm holding it close to his mouth as he continues to suck her blood.

  ‘That’s enough now.’ Tessa worryingly states. Jeff’s grip now only getting tighter and tighter on her arm. ‘Shit. This is your first time feeding isn’t it?’ Asks Tessa knowing full well she wasn’t going to get an answer. Tessa quickly changes into a vampire and punches Jeff repeatedly in the head until he lets go. Jeff now hungrier than ever, slowly gets up and takes in a deep breath. The knife wound on his back is starting to repair itself. ‘I need more.’ Jeff mutters under his breath.

  ‘No you don’t, you just think you do cause you’re injured. Control the thirst.’ Tessa chimes in with tips.

  ‘You don’t understand, I need more blood. I can’t survive without more blood.’ Jeff sharply turns facing back into the street when he spots an old man slowly hobbling down the road. Jeff begins a sprint but before he makes it out of the alleyway Tessa grabs him by his collar and throws him with ease down the other end of the alley. ‘Fight it!’ Tessa screams. Jeff runs at Tessa landing a punch to her face, she blocks the next punch heading towards her stomach. Tessa kicks the back of Jeff’s knees sending him to the ground, keeping hold of his arm she twists it as she stamps then stands on his back. Jeff quickly calms down and becomes human again, by the time he has gotten up and brushed himself down, Tessa had vanished.

  CHAPTER 4:

  WILL AND KATIE

  Will looks at Katie as they walk through a cold empty park. He notices how shattered and exhausted she looks. This doesn’t surprise him considering the emotional rollercoaster they had been through during the day. Katie shivers.

  ‘Knew it wasn’t a good idea to go jumping into the water, you must be freezing by now?’ Asks Will.

  ‘I am, I’m really starting to regret doing that now.’ Katie cracks a slight smile. Will’s eyes light up as he got to see a side of Katie he had never seen.

  ‘Here, I’ll tell you what, let’s stop off in that little hut thing in the park and have a quick rest.’

  ‘I am knackered but I really should be getting home.’ Katie replies.

  ‘It’ll only be for five minutes, don’t worry I’ll keep you warm.’ Will winks at Katie as he grabs her hand and runs towards the metal tin can hut with wooden benches inside pulling her closely behind him. ‘We’ll have a quick break here, then I promise I’ll take you home, just wanted to get you out of the cold wind for a bit.’

  ‘Well in that case I’ll sit with you.’ Katie sits on the wooden bench inside and taps the space next to her encouraging Will to sit next to her. He does so.

  ‘Here come in close, share my body heat.’ Will says as he raises his arm to usher Katie into his hold.

  ‘Well they say the best way to do that is to be naked.’ States Katie cheekily as she huddles up close to Will. Will lowers his arm around her and pulls her in close.

  ‘At least buy me dinner first. You’ve only known me a day.’ Will laughs, his laugh quickly subsides as the thoughts of the day which had been vacant from his mind for the first time today suddenly come rushing back. Katie feels the tension darken and decides to quickly clear the air.

  ‘You’re right. Given the current circumstances of me being in your arms this won’t be very formal, but hi, my name is Katie Hollister, nice to meet you.’

  ‘Ha good point, nice to meet you Katie, my name is William Jenkins.’

  Katie smiles, ‘Do you prefer Will or William?’

  ‘Well my mum’s the only person that calls me William, so I’d say I prefer Will. So how old are you?’

  ‘I’m twenty one.’ Katie replies.

  ‘Oh I remember when I was that young.’

  Katie has a puzzled look on her face, ‘How old are you then?’

  ‘Twenty three’ Will chuckles. Katie gives him a sly dig in the stomach with her elbow. They both begin to chuckle out loud. The laughter dwindles and there’s silence between the pair, only the noises of rusting trees and the wind can be heard for a few moments.

  ‘Why us Will?’ Katie looks up into Will’s eyes.

  ‘Haven’t the foggiest.’ Will’s heart sinks as he failed to offer Katie a proper answer.

  ‘Think of all the things we could’ve done with our lives instead we’re now stuck with this.’ Katie sinks down and lays on the bench with her head in Will’s lap looking up at him. Will is suddenly taken back from the forwardness of this girl he had only met today.

  ‘To be honest I wasn’t really going anywhere, I work in a groceries five minutes from my mum’s house. Yes go ahead and mock I’m twenty three and still living with my mum.’ Will looks away embarrassed.

  ‘Don’t look embarrassed, I still live with my mum too. Well I have no choice really I kind of look after her.’ Katie suddenly realises what she was saying and quickly avoids the conversation. ‘So anyway, did you have any other plans for life beside the whole grocery thing?’ She asks letting out a small sigh of relief.

  ‘Funny you should mention that because I was in medical school for a few years.’

  Katie turns her head in shock and looks into Will’s eyes.

  ‘Don’t look too shocked!’ Will states whilst cracking a smile.

  ‘Oh sorry. So what happened?’ She asks showing real interest in anything Will has to say.

  ‘Well I thought it would be cool to be a doctor. You know saving lives, being a hero to the patients families, but in the end I just couldn’t keep up. Too much stuff to learn and remember. My brain just couldn’t handle it.’ Will says still with a smile on his face. His smile fades as he notices Katie staring up at him with a saddened expression.

  ‘Bit ironic that you wanted to be a hero and save lives and now you’re a bad guy who has to take them.’ Kat
ie and Will just look at each other both silent as the grave.

  ‘That just depends on how you look at it.’ A man’s voice from outside of the hut. Both Will and Katie jump to their feet and run out into the park. As they stop and turn back they notice a figure of a man kneeling on the hut roof.

  ‘Who are you? And what do you want?’ Will shouts as he positions himself in front of Katie to protect her. The man slowly stands to his feet. He leaps into the air. Will and Katie are stunned, they both believe instantly they are dealing with a vampire. The man lands a meter in front of the two. He’s rugged. His hair cut like he had a military background. His chiselled face covered with scars, a major scar ran from his mouth up to his left ear. He has a built physique covered with a long black jacket only revealing metal studded boots peering from the bottom.

  ‘The name’s Leofric. And I’m here to kill you.’

  CHAPTER 5:

  WARRIORS AND LACKEYS

  Jeff entered the extravagant entrance to The Ruby Hotel frantically trying to rub the dried blood from his face and around his mouth. He makes his way over the front desk. The young woman behind the desk that the recruits met earlier arises from behind the desk, she quickly fixes her eyes on Jeff making his way over to her. Her eyes widen in shock as she notices the blood around Jeff’s mouth and now healed stab wound. Without any hesitation the young woman hurries around the desk and grabs Jeff by his sleeve and pulls him through a door marked maintenance room. The room is dark and claustrophobic. The young woman flips the light switch revealing wooden shelving on the left hand wall filled with various cleaning products. Just below an inordinate amount of buckets and all different kinds of mops some on the floor others perched against the wall. On the right hand wall a grubby mirror hangs above a dirty sink. Rust, mould, lime scale and cracks cover the sink. Jeff looks at this and horror fills his head at the thought of having to use that sink to wash the blood from his skin.