THE CAINE-MOONSCRIM CHRONICLES

ON THE WINGS OF A...BAT?

PROLOGUE

by

BlackFury

Detectives Peter Caine and Kermit Griffin have a very creepy encounter that neither one of them is prepared to admit really happened, but they know that it did or at least, they think it did. Of course, it takes place near Halloween and they have both witnessed some strange events in the past, but this? Even Kermit is creeped out by what takes place. But let Peter tell it himself

"Kermit and I were out on a call three days before Halloween and the city had been quiet, almost too quiet, the frog had commented as we drove along North Shore drive in that green machine of his. The call was a domestic disturbance and the reason we were being sent was because it was a cop's house. These kinds of calls are always dicey.

You never know what state these guys could be in so you have to be careful. You could say the wrong thing and the next thing you know, you could have a bloodbath on your hands. Well, we arrived at the address and ended up having to bring the guy in. He had beaten up his wife pretty badly and Kermit called the ambulance.

After putting Micheals in the holding cell, Kermit and I went into his office to do the requisite paperwork, the only part of this job that I truly hate. Afterwards, I went back to my desk and went to work on the mountain of case files that was in my basket. After about an hour, I looked up and saw my father, Kwai Chang Caine, standing there. I'm used to his sudden appearances by now but this close to Halloween? I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Dad," I looked up, "don't sneak up on me like that, Please!" He looked at me and smiled that enigmaticical smile of his. "I am sorry if I startled you, my son, but you did ask me to meet you here, to go to lunch?" He sounded faintly amused at the expression on my face. I, as usual, had totally forgotten about it and I could feel the hot flush creeping up my neck as I blushed. I had agreed to have lunch with Kermit that day.

Just then, my partner came out of his office and realized my predicament. He changed his mind and told me to go on and spend time with my dad, as he had another code to crack on his computer. So, I grabbed my jacket and Dad and I spent a very comfortable hour together at a small chinese restaurant near the precinct.

After returning to the precinct, and more paperwork, does this stuff never end? We got a call about a possible homicide and, once again, Kermit and I took off. When we got there, the crowd of on-lookers was larger than is usual for a homicide. Nicky Elder, our coroner, was looking ashen and for Nick, that was unusual. He motioned for Kermit and I and we walked over to where the sheet was lying on the ground.

"Nicky? You ok?" I asked him. He looked at me and I felt a sudden chill down my spine, in spite of the unusually hot October weather. He looked at me and Kermit.

"I don't know guys. This is too weird, even for me. I mean, I have never seen anything like this before." Kermit drew in a breath and looked at me. If Nicky hadn't seen it before, then it really was strange.

Finally, my partner and I looked down at the body as Nicky flipped back the sheet and I thought Kermit was going to gag, and that ex-mercenary has seen a lot in his lifetime. I mean, even I felt like throwing up. I couldn't even tell if the body was male or female, it was so badly burned. From the contortions of the limbs, they had been burned alive.

Nicky finally regained his voice and looked at me and Kermit, "When I got here, I could tell that whatever this used to be had been tied down, limbs spread out. This used to be a form of punishment, but I have no idea what is going on now. Can we move this...thing now?" Kermit and I nodded and watched as the morgue attendants put the remains, carefully, into a body bag and then drove away.

We then talked to the people there but, as usual, no one had seen or heard anything, until we got to Old George, a drunk who practically lived in that area of the park. He came up and cracked that toothy grin of his.

"Hey, Pete, Kermit, you here about that crispy critter?" We looked at each other and Kermit spoke up. "Yeah, George. You know anything about it?" George laughed a bit, then his smile faded and for once, he sounded cold sober.

"Yeah, I do, but I wish I didn't!" The tone was low and cold, and Kermit and I both heard a note of fear, and George was a former marine, down on his luck. We found a park bench and sat down. George shuddered and began talking.

"I was awake about two hours before sunrise this morning when I heard voices from the top of that hill over there." He pointed to where they had found the body. "So, I crept up there to look and saw about eight people. I had never seen them before but they were all wearing black. One of them, a woman, seemed to be in charge but the language they were speaking sure wasn't english, and I had never heard it before. Well, two of them had this one guy by the arms and were not letting him go. The woman said something and suddenly this guy had a look of sheer terror on his face. He started shaking his head and in an almost pleading tone was saying, "No, No." But the woman was implacable and the next thing I knew, they and four others were tying him down, spread-eagled on his back. The woman said something else in that strange language and then, they didn't walk away, I swear, Peter, they literally either vanished into thin air or turned into bats and flew away. After that, it got worse. The guy was still struggling but he couldn't get loose. I was afraid to try and help him. I had this strange feeling that some of them were still there to watch and be sure that whatever they had planned was carried out. Then, the sun started coming up. The look of fear on his face got worse and when the sunlight touched him, I swear he burst into flames! Peter, Kermit, I have never heard screams like that in my life before, not even during the war, and I never want to hear them again. He writhed, and struggled till finally, it was all over. That was when I found officer Kyle and had him call you guys, I mean, I know weird things happen in Chinatown, but this is the weirdest I've ever seen. Man, I definitely need a drink!"

I looked at Kermit and could tell he was as shocked as I was. He then pulled out a twenty and handed it to George. "Here, go get roaring drunk, maybe then you'll forget, at least for awhile." George muttered 'thanks' and took off for the nearest bar.

Kermit and I drove back to the precinct in silence. Once we were back, we went into Kermit's office and closed the door. I turned to look at my partner whose face was suddenly the color of new fallen snow. I got worried.

"Hey, Kermit, you ok?" My friend and partner looked at me and I got scared. I had never seen that look before. His mouth worked for a moment and finally, he spoke. "I've read about this before, Peter, but only in legends. 'Staking out' as it's called, was a form of capital punishment practiced by vampyres to execute one of their own and it was usually reserved for those who had committed especially heinous crimes against the vampyric community, such as slaying and drinking the blood of an elder, wanton murder, disobeying the direct command of the prince and things like that. If I'm reading George correctly, what he witnessed was a vampyric execution this morning. The language he heard is probably Romanian, or ancient Wallachian, which was the language of Vlad Tepes, the original Count Dracula."

I listened in growing amazement, not only about what had possibly happened, but that my partner knew so much about it. There were depths to this man I have never imagined before. Kermit continued.

"The woman George saw sounds like the ruling Prince of this community, as only the Prince can order such an execution. Also, only vampyres can vanish into thin air or turn into bats and fly away. In other words, Peter, we have company in this city. The problem being, I don't think that Captain Simms is going to believe this. If we tell her, she will probably want to pad the walls of my office, lock us both in and then throw away the key!"

I thought it all over and knew he was right, however, I got an idea and looked at my friend. "What if we talk to my dad? He won't think we're totally crazy, at least, I don't think he would. Want to head into Chinatown?" Kermit nodded and soon, we pulled up in front of the building my father lived in. As we entered, I could feel my father's presence, calm and serene, as always. He was going through his usual workout but this time, Lo Sei was with him as well. Kermit and I watched these two shaolin priests moving in perfect unison and rhythm with the universe and each other.

After ten minutes, father stopped and looked at Kermit and I. He came over and after nodding to my partner, reached out and hugged me. Then, he pulled away and looked into my eyes. "You are troubled, my son. Something has disturbed you, and your friend. Your chi is troubled." He continued, glancing at Kermit. Lo Sei made a move to leave and I called out.

"Please, stay, I think we could use your help as well." Lo Sei nodded and soon, all four of us were seated in my father's apothecary room. I have always loved the smells in there, so relaxing and so calm. I can always think clearer when I'm in here than anywhere else. Anyway, Kermit and I told my dad and Lo Sei what had happened and what Old Geroge had told us. As Kermit talked, I saw my father and the Ancient exchange worried glances. For the two of them to show worry, it had to be bad. After a few moments of silence, Lo Sei spoke first.

"You do well to be concerned, young Caine. The vampyre is a real creature and the community is real. They have been in this city for sometime but they have remained quiet. For them to have carried out such an execution, the crime must have been grave, indeed."

I shuddered at the tone and looked over at Kermit. The color had drained from his face again and I could actually hear what he was thinking, 'I know we're cops and all but do we have to...' I finished his thought out loud. "Investigate this as a homicide?" Kermit shot a look at me and then smiled in relief. I nodded. "Yeah, Kermit, we are cops and we do have to look into to this. I don't like it anymore than you do, but where to start is the problem. It's not as if you can find vampyres-r-us in the yellow pages, you know." Kermit laughed at that statement.

Lo Sei looked over at my father and I suddenly got a very weird feeling.

"Dad, if you and the Ancient know something, please tell me and Kermit." They looked at each other and Lo Sei nodded. My father spoke, quietly but with the strength I remember so well from the temple, god sometimes I really miss that place! He then looked directly at me.

"We know they are here because I have talked to some of them. Their Prince came to see me five nights ago." I shot to my feet in shock. My father, talking to vampyres? I looked at Kermit and he was as shocked as I was. My dad continued. "Please, my son, be patient. You and I have nothing to fear from them. It seems that in the past, this Prince swore a life debt to your great-grandfather for a service he rendered, and in gratitude, this Prince swore to protect our family line in perpetuity. They keep their sworn oaths, especially when they are sworn in their own blood."

I was amazed and sat down hard. I knew my father would never lie to me but this story was so amazing that for a fleeting moment, I wondered. But then I looked into my father's face and I knew he was telling the truth. I looked at Kermit and back at my father. He had finished speaking and was just looking at me.

"All right, Dad, but what do we tell our Captain about this homicide? She's going to ask, you know." My father smiled again. "Tell her what you think best my son." I started to say something when Kermit's cell went off. With a muffled oath, he flipped it open and growled, "Yeah, Griffin." He then looked sharply at me and said, "Yeah, we're on our way." and flipped the phone closed.

"That was Nicky Elder. Something's happened at the morgue. We need to get there, now." I looked at my father. "Go, my son. I will be fine." I nodded and we left. At the morgue, Nicky Elder was angry to say the least. I had never seen him like this before. He was pacing up and down the room, muttering all sorts of imprications. I stepped forward.

"Nicky, you called us?" He turned and looked. "Peter, what has this city come to?" Kermit and I looked at each other, then back at our friend. "What's happened, Nick?" I asked him. He started pacing again. "I opened the cooler to do the autopsy on the body from this morning and when I opened the body bag all I found were ashes! I mean, nothing, just a pile of dust! How am I suppossed to do any tests on that? What happened to my corpse?" Kermit and I felt for him but how could we tell him the truth? We said something, I don't remember what and went back to the precinct. Captain Simms was furious and gave us a royal reaming for 'bungling this case by listening to the ravings of an old drunk' and told us she was increasing our case loads, not to mention cancelling our vacations and the next four days we were supposed to have off. I guess we should be glad she forgot to put us on the graveyard shift.

You know the really weird thing was that after that, Old George disappeared and was never seen again and we could find no other evidence to back up what he had told us. We walked into Kermit's office looking properly chastised and Kermit closed the door. We looked at each other and for some strange reason we burst out laughing. After getting ourselves back under control, we marked the case as 'Unsolved' and went back to our regular routine.

Kermit and I never mention this case anymore but every Halloween, we exchange knowing looks whenever anyone mentions coming to work dressed as a vampyre and we wonder if Old George and my father were telling the truth, or just pulling our leg for Halloween? I guess I'll never really know and in some ways, I devoutly hope I never find out, you see, I hate bats worst than I hate rats!"

THE END?