After Dark (The Vampire Next Door Book 2)

by Titus, Rose

  “Damn. It’s my case. He could have asked me. And that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

  “Yeah. Let this clean-up crew alone. That’s what I say. Whoever it is, he’s doing society a favor.”

  Martin took a quick step back when he saw the video camera. And he hoped to be able to fade into the background when he saw the reporter. She stood by the psychic the department hired to help locate the serial killer, interviewing him excitedly. She seemed eager to appear to take him very seriously, and was interested in every softly spoken word he said.

  Martin was getting more uncomfortable—a crowd began to gather. A crowd of typical vacation and beach resort people. Most were in shorts, a few wore bathing suits. Some had cameras, and were taking pictures of this so-called psychic, souvenirs to take home, Martin guessed. The females seemed especially interested in the unusual creature: he was tall, blond, extremely muscular.

  The psychic now held a large pointed quartz crystal in his raised hands. He closed his eyes and began to chant something incoherent.

  A little girl in the crowd asked loudly, “Mommy, what’s he doing? He’s weird.”

  “Shush, honey,” said the mother, “This is very important.”

  Martin watched this fool in tights and felt nauseous again.

  Suddenly the young man’s eyes snapped open wide. “There is much bad and dark energy in this realm.”

  “What sort of bad energy, Zontar?” asked the attractive reporter. Martin guessed that her news van was well air conditioned, because her bright pink suit was too heavy a material to wear on such a hot day.

  “Shauna, there is a great deal of very, very negative energy in the area where the first body was found. In the dimension where I originate from, we call this negative energy Ree-Ahh-U, which means, in your Earth language, Negative Energy. Whoever is doing these acts of violence has a great deal of this negative energy.”

  “And do you believe you can help us find the serial killer, Zontar?”

  “Yes! But I must meditate more intensely. Perhaps for many days.”

  For many days while you’re on the payroll, jerk, thought Martin.

  “Thank you, Zontar! And now we go over to Detective Martin Atkinson!” She swiftly advanced toward him. “Detective!”

  Oh shit.

  “Detective Atkinson!”

  “Yes, Shauna?” he tried to look at her, and look away from the video camera.

  “Do you have any suspects?”

  His speech was halting as he answered. “Ah, well, we regret that we are not able to really make any comments on the issue at this point in time. However, we are very involved with this case.”

  “And what about the terrifying rumors that there are evil bloodsucking vampires on the loose in this beautiful town?” She smiled, as if it was all very cute, and interesting, to the general public.

  “Ah.” He attempted to laugh, smile a little bit. “That’s just an old, worn out, silly local town legend. But we are taking this case very seriously and—”

  “No! Noooo!”

  Everyone’s head turned instantly. Several uniformed officers rushed to keep the unkempt, ragged vagrant away from the curious tourists.

  “No! Don’t listen to him! The police are not taking this case seriously! All the victims are street people and homeless people! It’s a government plot to kill us all off!”

  Shauna shut her microphone off, covered the lens of the video camera with her well-manicured hand, and hissed a command to her camera man. “Shut it off, Biff! Let’s get out of here! This ain’t good entertainment no more!”

  “Lady!” Martin was pissed off when he overheard. “What do you mean? Entertainment? People have died around here, for crissakes!”

  “Thank you, Detective Atkinson! There will be no further questions for you today!” She returned to the air conditioned comfort of her news van. The thick metal door of the van slid shut, and she and her crew quickly left the scene.

  “Yes! It’s true!” the vagrant only grew louder. “Vampires are real. I’ve talked to one several nights ago!”

  Martin cringed inside. Oh no. No. Don’t do this. Shut up, man.

  But he wouldn’t. Martin knew he wouldn’t shut up.

  Several people in the crowd gasped. The street guy had their full attention now.

  “I talked to one of them and they are not the ones behind the killings! They want to help catch the killer before everyone blames them!”

  And now the uniformed men were in the process of hauling him off.

  “Listen to me! The government is behind all of this!”

  Martin would need to talk with Rick again.

  “Why’d you go and do that, Bruce?” Rick did not care if all the people in the burger place thought he was odd for wearing his sunglasses at night. The artificial lights were too oppressive and they stung his eyes.

  “Why can’t we go over to the Pizza Palace like I asked?” the vagrant was on his third hamburger, fourth set of large fries, and second diet Coke.

  “Because like I told you, I can’t stand the smell of garlic. That’s why. Now talk to me, man! Why’d you do that? You didn’t have to, you know. You’re lucky they didn’t toss you in the bin.”

  “Naw.” Bruce talked with his mouth full of food. “They don’t lock you away unless you got insurance to cover the electric treatment, like you know, they hook the jumper cables from the ambulance to your head, gotta pay for all that. They hook the cables right up to your ears, and that’s expensive. And all the dope they give you t’get you high, too. Gotta have insurance for all that. Takes money t’get high like that. There’s this guy I know on the streets.” He grabbed a handful of fries, stuffed them in his mouth, and continued talking. “This guy, Crazy Eddie. He’s like so gone, did lotsa drugs, now his brain is permanently shot, talks to himself a lot, all day long, and shakes everyone’s hand, everyone he meets on the street, says he’s running for office and asks for their vote. Hey, man, you got eyes?”

  “What?” Rick wondered if the greasy food smelled worse than Bruce.

  “Yeah? You got eyes under those Ray Bans? I mean, do they like glow in the dark or what?”

  “Yeah.” He lifted his dark glasses. “See? They’re there. I got eyes.”

  Bruce stared back at him warily and said nothing.

  “Come on. Tell me something I don’t know. Tell me anything. How come you said the government was behind all this?”

  “’Cause they are. I know it. I don’t know why. It could be the CIA, maybe.”

  “Yeah, right. Sure.”

  “No. It’s true. The government wants to kill all the homeless people. Like it’s the final solution. You know. It’s a plot.”

  “So, how do you know this?”

  “That’s the word on the street.”

  “Come on. What do you mean? I need better than that.”

  “’Cause people keep disappearing. One by one. Old people, bag ladies, a lot of them are disappearing. And nobody cares. Street kids, boys who sell themselves for food and drugs. Hookers too, sometimes. One by one. It’s been going on since the early eighties. That’s when it all really started. People began to disappear.”

  “Like, maybe they drifted on, to another town,” Rick put his sunglasses back on. He could not stand the brightness of the artificial light.

  “I thought so too. Until I saw Regina down in a pool of blood hacked to death, man.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. Who was she?”

  “Old Regina. About fifty, looked eighty though. Wore a big purple hat with a feather. Pushed a shopping cart around town, she didn’t beg, she was too proud. She ate out of a trash can instead. Then one day we didn’t see her. Couple of days later, she was in behind some trash cans, all torn to pieces, like a wild animal got to her. It was awful. I threw up. It smelled, there were flies all over. I ran to tell some people she knew. We all came back. The body was gone, like someone cleaned up. All the bloody pape
rs and garbage were gone too. Like, remove all the evidence. The pavement was even wet, soapy water, like someone cleaned up around there.”

  “When was this?”

  “Like, maybe few years back. Now I believe it too. It’s a plot. A body gets seen, then missing, the area cleaned up. They say one guy does the butchering, other people come and clean up.”

  “So, why don’t you get off the streets?”

  “Can’t. I don’t know why. Just can’t. It’s the way I am. I dunno.” He finished his Coke, loudly slurped what was left.

  “Ever take a bath?”

  “I dunno.”

  Rick reached for his wallet, took out some money. “Look, get a room so you can use the shower, will you? And don’t use this cash to buy drugs.”

  “I get my dope for free. We all share a joint sometimes. When we can get it.”

  The poodle jumped up onto the couch to curl up in his lap. “Yeah, the stuff he told me was pretty bad.” He let the dog chew his fingers while he told Lina what the vagrant told him. “Hey, where is Alex anyway?”

  “He’ll be back. He is trying to collect the rent from Sky again. I doubt he’ll get it.”

  “Why doesn’t her new boyfriend just materialize the cash over from the fifth dimension, save us all the trouble?”

  “Oh, you mean Zontar? He hasn’t been around lately. I’m glad, he scares the poor dog.”

  “You think he’s gone back to Jupiter?”

  “No. Doing psychic shows, readings, whatever they call it. Channeling. Those sorts of people live off the tourists.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Speaking of which, how do you know that man wasn’t just crazy?”

  “I don’t know. We have nothing else to go on.” He put the dog down and stood up. “Look, have Alex call me.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m going to talk to Leon. He knows a few street people, sometimes he lets them sleep on the floor of our place during the day when it’s all shut down.”

  Lina gasped, “Rick. If Irina found out—”

  “Yeah, I know. She wouldn’t like it. But she won’t find out. Will she?”

  “No. She won’t.”

  Leon wiped down the top of the bar with a wet rag. It was nearly closing time on the upper levels, on that side of the business. The other side would remain open until near dawn.

  Martin knew that. And he knew he would never go down there.

  He sipped his beer. Looked at his watch. And swore.

  “Look, he said he would be here. Okay?”

  “Sure,” Martin growled. “Yeah, right.”

  “Well, he’s not downstairs, ’cause I went down to look.”

  Martin continued to drink his beer in silence.

  “I saw that thing on the news,” Leon continued.

  Oh hell.

  “Hey, you guys really believe in that stuff? I mean, like, this is the twenty-first century. You guys use crystal balls, too?”

  “No, damn it. It’s just to show people we’re interested in the case, and give the tourists a show. That guy is just a useless weirdo in pantyhose.”

  Leon laughed, “So, like the department paid for this guy?”

  “Yes damn it.”

  “How much?”

  “Powers that be won’t say. Doesn’t deserve a penny if you ask me. Damn fool says he’s from outer space, or something.”

  “So? Maybe he is. He sure looks it.”

  “Shut up, Leon. He’s nothin’ but a fool who’s too lazy to go out and get a real job like the rest of us.”

  Leon chuckled and poured himself a beer and went to sit with Martin. “You’ve only been in here a few times, huh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t get out much?”

  “Hey. Listen. A kid ain’t like a goldfish, you know. You can’t just feed it and walk away.” He finished his beer. “If he don’t come soon, I’m outta here.”

  “Yeah? Have another one. He’ll be here.”

  Pavel heard anxious whisperings drifting out of Olga’s room as he quietly made his way through the darkened hallway. Katarina swiftly exited the room, stopped when she saw him, turned away quickly and was gone.

  He entered the room unannounced. The two serving women at the bedside stopped speaking when he came in.

  “Leave us!” Olga snarled.

  “Your Highness is not well?” he was concerned, but wished that he was not.

  “I fell.” Her voice was weakened and it sounded like a reptile’s quiet hiss.

  “From your horse?”

  “No! Down the stairs.”

  “Are you badly hurt?”

  “I lost the baby!” she laughed quietly, with tears drifting down from her eyes.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not!”

  “I must go now; I am glad that I was able to bring you safely home, at least, Princess,” and he turned to leave.

  “Where will you go?”

  “To where I belong. I do not believe I shall ever return to your father’s castle.”

  She said nothing, and he left.

  Pavel returned to his small dark room to gather his things, to prepare for his departure. He answered the light knock at the door. “Come in.”

  It was Mikhail.

  “It is good to see you once again, my friend. You have come to see me off?”

  Mikhail hesitated a moment. “My sister...today, this morning she told me of her plans to enter into a convent. She will go soon, she said that she had been thinking of it for some time, but kept it to herself.”

  “To be away from here no doubt.” He wrapped his cloak around his shoulders, placed his dagger back into his boot.

  “Yes. She told me so. She says she will feel safe in God’s hands, far away from our uncle. He could not harm her once inside the nunnery.”

  “And you?”

  “I would like to leave with you, tonight. If you will let me.”

  “I am leaving now.”

  “My horse is ready. I have some money, some clothes, hidden in the stable. I know places to hide.”

  “Then come with me now, boy.”

  And Mikhail silently followed as Pavel hurried down the stone steps.

  “There you are! The both of you!” The king stepped out from the darkness at the bottom of the stairs, armed guards at his side.

  Pavel thought carefully before he spoke. “Majesty! I must thank you for your kindness. But now, alas, I must leave.”

  He laughed. “Leave? Never! I have need of one such as you. And, my dear nephew, where are you going at this dark hour?”

  “To see him off, uncle. That is all.”

  “Oh? Is it? Guards! See that they both return to their rooms! And see that they stay there!”

  Laura whispered something as she rested her head down on the couch, slowly drifting down into the dark warmth of sleep. He reached down to touch her hand lightly. “I have to go. I have an appointment to keep. I’ll tell you the rest of the story. I promise.” He left.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Martin had alcohol on his breath and Rick could smell it.

  “Out.”

  “Out?”

  “With a friend. That’s all.”

  “That’s all,” he mumbled.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Rick really didn’t care at all. “Okay, so I saw the late edition of the news and it will be in the morning papers, right?”

  “Damn it, Rick! What’s going on?”

  “Okay, so it was me who talked to that guy. I’ve been asking around. Like I said, this has been going on for a real long time. That’s the word on the street.”

  “Yeah? Then how come we just know about it now?”

  “I dunno. This guy says one person kills them, someone else cleans up the mess and removes the evidence. Except now, the clean-up crew is not coming around anymore. Bodies are showing up in public. I don’t understand any of it, but I believe him. Even if he is crazy.”

  Leon watched as Martin slowly
drifted out. He said good night quietly. Even though he seemed intensely angry earlier, he was now too exhausted to argue any longer.

  Rick remained, sitting at the bar sipping heated blood from a large beer mug. “He’s really upset about all this, ‘course it bothers me too.”

  “Yeah, everyone around here. Like, who could be next?”

  Rick turned to look towards the rear entrance. Leon knew how sensitive his hearing was, and so he automatically went to see who it was.

  A frail blonde young woman with a little boy. Their clothes were ragged and threadbare, their eyes filled with the sadness of desperation. “It’s okay. Come on in. Yeah, there’s a couple of sleeping bags in the storage room. “

  She stared across the room at Rick, stared at the contents of his glass and pulled the little boy close.

  “Don’t worry, he’s okay. Come on.”

  She hesitated.

  “It’s okay.”

  Rick said nothing and considered leaving.

  “This is Rick, he’s a friend of mine. He doesn’t mind if you stay here.” Leon led the woman and her little boy away. Rick finished the contents of his beer mug and listened quietly. Leon was talking to her, telling her where she could find food, and he told her to be out before dusk.

  Leon returned to finish cleaning up.

  “Ever have anything disappear with some of those people?”

  “Nope. ’Cause I’m careful, that’s why.” Leon also slept during the day. It was the way he was brought up. “She’ll be all right. She’s trying to get off the streets, trying to get a job.”

  “So give her one.”

  “I will, soon as we find something for her to do.” He quickly went around the semi darkened room to wipe down tables.

  “You think she knows who the clientele is on the bottom floor of this place?”

  “I dunno,” he admitted. “There’s rumors. You know that.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He got up to leave, “Hey, Leon, take good care of her.”

  “Good God, that silly witch will still not pay the rent.” Alex returned, slammed the door behind himself as he stormed in. After trying to deal with Sky, he was drained.