by brett hicks
I curse to myself and I feel anger for her violent means of death. Every time I come to a crime scene like this, I am silently asking myself, “Did my father do this?” It is a disturbing thought to be left with as a half-breed. I force myself to ignore the tempting smells that a human victim kicks off and I focus on the fact that this is a person, who did not deserve to be killed.
I heard one of the plain cloths call her Jessica Parker. She has a name and a family, which is like cold water on my rampant senses. Vampires do not have to kill to get a full meal on any night. Hell they could live off donor blood, like I do. They kill because it amuses them, or makes the food taste better. I cannot help but feel a sense of self-loathing, every time I see the handy work of full bloods.
I am torn from my reveres, by a hand on my shoulder. I look up quickly and into the hazel green eyes of a very young detective. He looks Buoy breed and dark tan skinned. He has deep brown hair, almost bordered on black. He is tall, about six feet tall.
I clear my throat and say, “Can I help you detective?” I look for his badge, but I do not see his name, I do see the traces of the gold shield under his shirt, on his belt. I see his Colt .45 on his waist band holster.
“What are you doing on my crime scene?” I blink twice and then I let my sass kick in. “Trying to solve a murder, not get into a pissing contest with the locals, how about you detective?”
He has a slight trace of Cajun in his accent and his eyes widen a little at my prod to his character. His accent gets slightly thicker with annoyance. “Cherri I am detective Jon Divichi. I am the authority on every homicide in by magical means.”
I give him my right hand and say. “Special Agent Rebecca Banks, FBI. I am here tracking a possible connection, between these and several other murders I have seen.”
That was obviously a flat out lie. I push a hint of glamor into my statement, to try to give it more pass ability. The young Cajun detective motions for me to follow him and I do. We walk out the back of the shotgun home and I am greatly relieved to breath in the fresh air.
“What did you find then Special Agent?” I shrug and say, “You will want to measure the bites, because I am seeing about three noticeable sizes on her wounds, thus this was more of a feast and less of a singular vampire homicide.”
He looks at me with great suspicion and says, “I did not see you measure the wounds Special Agent.” I shrugged and said, “Look I have amazing eye sight and I have been seeing these kinds of bite wounds for years now. I think I would know what I am talking about detective! Go have your techs run the tests, they will tell you I am right.”
He gave me a barely veiled look of suspicion. “Cherri I believe you have had you look at my crime scene, so please let me confirm your claims. I will see you later.”
He turned and I let out a breath and I hopped over the back fence and cut back towards the main road. I let out a breath and dropped my glamor. I cursed lightly to myself and walked back to the main road. Damn detective, kicking me out of his crime scene, like he can solve this crime as easy as I could. I was equally frustrated that they had obscured their scent, with magic or glamor. They must know that a local day walker is on the prowl, because most vampire attacks are just brazen. They don’t give a fuck about being caught, because it is typically human hunters tracking them.
I see Sally idling in her car, by the curb waiting for me. I smile lightly to myself and I am very grateful to her, for all she does for me. I am still not going to forgive her for all the v card jokes tonight! She will pay for that dearly.
Chapter: 4
I managed to get myself to bed at two thirty in the morning. I am nearly as naturally nocturnal as my full blooded brethren. I woke up to the buzzing of my phone and I looked over on my night stand and cursed to myself. I sleepily snagged the phone and fumbled with the green talk button.
“Yeah this better be good. It is an unholy hour to be calling me Sally.”
I heard sniffling on the other end of the phone, “Kayla one of my pack was killed last night. We need your help please.”
I whipped myself up and all trace of sleep was dispelled now. “Hey Sal I will be right there ok? Where am I going?”
“A few blocks from the gated community, there is a sub division. We have a few young people who live out there. I will text you the address.”
“Ok I am coming, just sit still till I get there.”
I swung off the bed and I was grabbing a fresh long sleeve tee shirt. I put it on with a pair of lose jeans and I strapped my knives to my wrists and I buckled my belt with my concealed 9 millimeter on the inside of my jeans and covered it with my shirt. It was a bit slower than a side draw, but I did not want to explain, why a seventeen year old was carrying a gun.
I pocketed my switch blade in my jeans and I put on my steel toed boots. I was ruing out the door, when my mom tried to stop me. She had the same blonde hair and steel grey eyes as I have. She just made hers look much more stubborn and fierce.
“Where are you off to young lady? Don’t think I do not know your carrying that damn gun again.” I winced at her observation; I swear she is worse than a cop sometimes!
“Wolfe has been killed, Sally asked me to come look at the murder scene.”
I heard her curse lightly, too lightly for any human to hear. I heard her southern drawl thicken now. “You are not a cop yet young lady. Hell you might never get to be one, if you keep running loose like this! You need to let the damn police do their job, or did you forget that you’re just a seventeen year old, senior.”
“No I did not forget and I am about to turn eighteen and you know it. I am also not human, thanks for that mom!”
I slammed the door in her face. I did not enjoy this, but it was the only way to keep her the hell out of my business.
I hopped into my 04 civic and sped to the address that Sally had given me.
………….
I could smell the wolves, before I even turned the corner. There were at least twenty were wolves at the house. I cursed as I saw the police cruisers coming up the road behind me. I quickly parked my car and threw on the glamor I used the night before.
I nodded to the second ranked alpha male and said, “Please show me to the victim, before the cops kick me out of here.”
He nodded and took me into the living room of the little house, so very similar to the one I had been in last night. New Orleans is full of these little shotgun homes. They have a straight through design. Living room, straight behind that a bed room, then a kitchen behind that.
I looked at the young she-wolf, which was murdered, she was coming into her home and was forced through the door and her throat was savaged, faster than she could heal it. I could feel the raw anger in the air, from all the dominant pack members on the scene. I breathed in the scent of her, as I knelt close to the body. She was twenty one and I recognized her after a moment. Her name was Jenifer Barns and she was a young beta ranking member of the pack. She was not super high in the chain and not low either. She was friendly, but a strong fighter.
I smelt one scent on this crime scene and it was not masked. The bite radius was all wrong too. This scene smelled more like a hate crime, than a meal, or anything more primal. I shook my head and looked back to Sally, who was standing close by now.
“This is not the same as the three vampires from last night. This is a single perp and I smell raw hate and more malice in the air. He did not use a glamor at all, because he wanted to leave a message. He wants the pack to know that he is targeting them. It is right there with all the raw hatred mixed in with her death. I am sure your pack members can smell it too. I assume you asked me here, just to confirm it?”
She nodded and said, “I am her apex female. I am eighteen now, so all the she-wolves fall under my protection. I failed her Kay and I want to rip the fucker’s dick off and shove it down his throat.”
I heard snarls of agreement from behind her and I just nodded grimly. Sally was only ever aggressive if you fucked with her pa
ck. She is very apex and dominant, she is also not taking this death well at all.
I heard people moving and police began to step into the crime scene. I locked eyes with the young detective from the night before. He was ordering the wolves back from the body. They were not taking it well. I stood up and swung to look at his, all five three of my threatening demeanor.
“What the hell are you doing detective?!”
“I am getting these civilians to get the fuck back. This is an active crime scene.” I let out a breath and counted to ten. “These civilians, as you call them, have much sharper sense than any of you do. You should back the fuck up and let us handle this one.”
If he was not a gentleman, I would have assumed he was going to swing at me, from the look he was directing at me. I just kept staring at him back and I heard wolves growl. They did not like me much, but they liked me more than an outsider, on the same day as their pack was attacked.
I take a moment to compose myself, and then I hold up a hand and shake my head. “Guys please go report to your apex and I will share what I can with the detective. You have my word that I will find who did this to her.”
Sally growled at the ones most reluctant to take a command from a half-breed and they scoot off the lawn. I look back to see the detective is a bit white in the face, because he seemed to understand now that he had walked into a nest of were wolves, without thinking about it.
I narrow my gaze on him and said, “Detective there is a thing as common sense. You were not showing any, to walk into the middle of a pack like that. You may have a badge, but you really need to understand that they are mourning their lost pack member. You could have been wearing your guts as a decorative accessory by now.”
He ignored the warning in my little rant and said, “And why are you safe from them?” I shrugged and said, “I have earned some level of respect in the past, from their pack.”
“What did you find?”
The abrupt change in topics nearly sent me into a mental tail spin. I let out a breath and said, “Different perp than the other murder last night. This one was male and a singular killer. He tore out her throat and made it clear that he targeted her, for being a wolf.”
“And who the fuck do you know all of that? You just got here the same as I did.”
I smirked at him and said, “A girl has her ways detective, it is rude to try to get her to reveal everything in one day.”
He looked like he was going to say more, but I stopped him. “Look you have control of the crime scene now, let me go try to sate the pack ok?”
He seemed to wrestle with that for a moment, but conceded and I nodded to him and went to walk out the door. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop.
“I am not done with you cheri. There is much about you that does not add up. I will be looking into you, you can be sure of that.”
I shrugged and said, “If you have that much free time to waste go for it.”
It was a calculated gamble, but in reality he could arrest me, like my mom had said earlier. I was just hoping he would be too focused of finding a real criminal. I was going to have to try to avoid him for now.
……
I drove to the pack grounds and found myself at the apex’s three story home. Sally’s dad came out to greet me and he gave a stern alpha stare at all the wolves looking at me, from around the car, like I was their next meal.
The pack was clearly ready to take my head off, just because I have vampire DNA running through my veins. I honestly was pissed now, because I was trying to help them. No one made a move for me, but I could tell that they were going to try soon enough, when their apex was not watching them.
“Apex sir, sorry for your loss, I am here to help if you will allow it sir.”
He nodded at me and his fiery hair was in a messy tail, from a full morning. “I accept you help with gratitude Kayla McQueen. Come in and I will have you speak with her friends.” I nodded and followed him inside the house. I could sense the primal wolf energies around me and I did not feel comfortable in this pack. I had always felt their hostility, because of my blood, but I have never felt like the target of murderous magical vibes, until now.
I tried to push that out of the front of my mind and I followed him to his living room on the first floor. Two young she-wolves sat on the living room couch and Sally was sitting in the chair across from them. Her dad pulled up a chair for me and a quietly thanked him for it and took a seat.
I opened my I phone and began to record on it. “Can you tell me where you guys were last night, before you separated?”
They looked first to their apex, then to Sally, both nodded for them to speak to me. The dirty blonde haired she wolf spoke up first. “We were out dancing at a few local clubs off St Charles Ave. and Canal. We don’t get drunk easy, being wolves and all, so we all left in our own cars. That was the last time we saw her.”
The young dark blonde haired girl was weeping now and I reframed from trying to comfort her, reminding myself that I was a dyamphyr and not likely to comfort anyone now.
“Did any guys in particular stand out to you? Did any of them shoe particular interest in any of you?”
The brown hair she-wolf snorted and said, “We are wolves, of course the guys were interested in us. We are a lot more attractive, than mundanes after all.”
“Any of them seem off or weird?”
She shook her head and said, “I can barely stand the smell of you little mutt, what makes you think I would stand the smell of a real undead vampire in my face?”
I nodded and tried to ignore the hostility and the jab at what I am. “So you did not get close to anyone who could be the murder, because you were naturally aware of anything unnatural. That at least tells me he must have kept well back and did not make contact until later. It is a starting point.”
I mostly said all of this for my recording’s sake. That and I wanted Sally’s dad to know what I was thinking, so he would not need to ask after the fact.
Chapter: 5
I drove down to St Charles Ave. and Canal in the French Quarter and I began to expand my supernatural sense in the area around the clubs the she-wolves had visited. I was amazed how many undead scents I picked up from last night. There were plenty of vampires in the area, but none matched the scent at the murder, so far.
There was no shortage of bars and clubs of all sizes to check out in the surrounding area of Canal Street. I was wondering down closer to the river and let my senses lead me. I was following the vampire scent, I had locked onto. It was not the murder, but I figured I would start with what I could get my hands on.
It was a female and the smell of death was stronger on this one, than the one at the crime scene. That tended to mean older, with vampires and their grave musk. I hated the smell of death, but my senses embraced it like a lost friend. I wondered into a grave yard. The many stone crypts and the family walls, with remains in them, were all over this city.
I found myself winding through a maze of grey crypt building and stone memorials. I could smell several vampires had been through this area recently, but one was more noticeable than the others. I kept following the strong scent of death and it lead me to a crypt like a hundred I had already passed.
I began to walk into the crypt, when a medium sized hand tried to stop me. I turned and looked to the hand, it was warm and human. It was still the middle of the day after all. I did not bother to try to remove the hand. I just looked at the small built man, about five seven and brown hair. He was about ten years older than me, give or take. He smelled like he practically lived in this graveyard.
His slight Cajun accent came out harsh, in hushed whispers. “You do not want to go in there little girl. Be on your way now.”
I took in every detail I could about him. He was short for a man and mostly average in every way. I caught the scares of multiple vampire bites, which had healed many times on his neck. And down to his collar bone. He was wearing a very loose fit shirt and I could see to his col
lar bone easily.
“I see that she has a little pet Igor to watch her in the day time. His nostrils flared at the insult to what he was. A vampire’s day time familiar, or an Igor as hunters called them. I twisted my hand free and grabbed his wrist and put my hip against his, and then I pulled him over my shoulder, in a powerful Jujitsu throw. He hit the ground back first and I kept his arm in a bar. I had palmed out my left dagger and quickly pushed it to his throat.
“You do realize that I can legally execute you, just like a vampire right here, right now? In becoming her little bitch, you have forfeited your rights as a mortal.”
I snarled at him and my eyes must have shifted, because he suddenly looked very scared of the tiny little blonde, with the knife to his throat. I hard movement behind me and I heard a familiar masculine voice telling me to freeze. I spared a glance to my right side and sure enough detective Jon Divichi was standing there, and his gun drawn.
“You might wanna take a look at his marking, before you start firing at the wrong perp detective. Come look and I will calmly back up. You shoot and I will kick your ass.”
He was already stepping between me and the Igor. He pulled the man’s shirt back and examined the marks along his neck and started curing in Cajun. I understood enough of it to get the gist. I was born and breed here after all and we speak three languages primarily in New Orleans English, French and Cajun French.
“I just assumed you were assaulting an unarmed man.” I sheathed my dagger into the left wrist holster and snorted at him.
“Well you should not be following me with your black and white logic detective. That is a good way to end up dead fast in this business.”
I realized that I was not wearing glamour now and he had seen me in my normal teen age girl look enough now. I was cursing to myself.
