"What in the world--"
"Yeah. Grisly, isn't it?" Vick said, her face troubled.
"You all right?" Sara asked. She nodded.
"The bodies themselves were half buried." She stepped aside and behind her was a big ditch. "Very ugly. It was a quick job, not a lot of care. Shallow graves. And no blood."
"How's the groundskeeper?" Danny asked.
"He's at the hospital. He's all right. Poor guy. Found the bodies and had a heart attack." Vick sighed. She looked down at her gloved hands and quickly peeled off the latex gloves, looking at them in disgust.
"Vick, maybe you should go home. Get some rest." Sara suggested.
"And who's going to determine the cause of death?" She said dryly, looking at the spikes. The joke was, of course, that no one really needed an autopsy to figure out what had killed the two people. "No, I'm fine."
"Are you really, Vick?" Danny asked. "I don't know. Late hours--"
"Danny, I'm fine." She said. She nodded. "Really."
Sara nodded in concession. "Okay. Is there anything else you can tell from the bodies?"
"Uh, well, the amount of blood suggests that a lot of it was taken out of the body before they uh--you know. Or maybe during."
".... Thanks for the visuals." Sara said quietly. She looked down at her feet. "Crap."
"What?"
"Well, it rained last night, right? Footprints?" She said, looking down at her boot marks in the dirt.
"Well, when forensics arrived this morning they yellow taped the whole area. There were shoeprints from the farmer, but none others were found. We did find these marks though, and bits of plastic snagged on sticks nearby."
"Killer was wearing plastic bags on his shoes." Danny concluded.
"Most likely." Vick said. "We're going to run the plastic to see if it can tell us anything."
Sara's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID.
"Beautiful." She said sarcastically. "It's Mays."
Danny sighed. "Great."
"It's okay, Danny, stay and get all the information we can get."
"You sure?"
"What, miss out on the opportunity to have a meeting with Mays? I'd never." Sara said, smiling.
***********
"What kind of freak show are we running here, Pezzini?!" He threw down the file onto the desk. "I have a double murder and two bodies on poles with their blood gone?"
"Sir--"
"This is what I am telling the family?" Mays fumed. "Mr. and Mrs. Franklin, your daughter was killed by a killer with sloppy burial skills. Do you know anyone who fits that description?"
"Look, Mays, all I'm saying is that this is what Vicky found. I can't explain it, but I do know that it narrows things down considerably."
"I don't care what it is, find the killer. I have the entire city breathing down my neck for this. Grandmas are calling up the station wondering if they should keep their daughters indoors, fearing a raving lunatic is going to take their blood."
*******
"How was the meeting?" Danny asked as Sara entered the office.
Sara's weary look was all he needed in an answer.
"Not quite what you expected I guess."
"From that guy? Oh it was everything I expected." She shrugged and sank into her chair.
"Well, at least there aren't very many people in New York with an affinity for blood."
Sara looked at her partner. "You bet?"
*******
"So I was doing some digging. The way you describe these murders, and from any information I got off the news, what you may be looking for is a vampire."
"A what?" Sara said, staring at Gabriel. "Are you serious?"
"Completely. You see, the way the murder was arranged, I would say that there was more than one killer. Maybe even an occult ritual. The draining of blood would suggest a vampiric act. Its unlikely though. Looks a bit gaudy, a little cliched. I wouldn't be surprised if you found a pentagram. But in the real case, if it was an occult ritual, whoever did it probably knew about Vlad Tepes."
"Who was he?"
"Vlad Tepes was a 15th century prince in Romania who was known for his bloody conquests. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler, because of his penchant for uh impaling his enemies on tall poles. And there were rumors that he took their blood and drank it. That's probably a bit exaggerated."
Gabriel walked to his computer and the screensaver disappeared, showing the Talismaniac wallpaper. He pulled up a webpage, where a large drawing glared back at them. It depicted bodies on stakes, their charcoal faces twisted in anguish. And it showed black going down the poles. The phone rang and Gabriel looked around. The phone cradle was empty, it's cordless counterpart hidden under piles of papers somewhere. After about six rings, he gave up.
"Nice hobby." She commented.
"That's not all. I'm thinking that your killers, or killer, believe they are vampires. A lot of these guys are really nice, but you do get the fanaticals, the nutjobs. And occasionally, a few do drink blood. A lot of those suffer--well, it's all pleasure for them--from a condition called Renfield's Syndrome. It's a psychological condition in which they have this attraction to drinking blood."
"Isn't that really unhealthy?" She asked, her face changed in disgust.
"Well, sort of. But in the past, tribes in Africa have been reported to have blood-drinking rituals, believing that the blood of a good hunter or a tribe leader possessed power. Sometimes it is actually a plausible idea. The Maasai for example mixed blood with milk and it is a good source of protein."
"So I'm looking for people that believe they are the undead?" She asked in disbelief.
"Or are pretending to be. And they'd be attracted to the scene, maybe even a worship complex." Gabriel moved his mouse and brought up a second webpage. Sara saw a listing for vampire 'clubs' in the area. He had printed out several addresses and now handed them to Sara. "These clubs open after dark, around 10 on most nights. They close an hour before dawn."
"And how do you know so much about what goes on?" She asked.
"I know people who know people." Gabriel shrugged. "Anyway, watch out. Appearance is everything if you're trying to blend in." He looked at Sara's leather jacket, zip up sweatshirt and jeans. "You might want to look less like a cop."
"Gee, thanks." She said.
Gabriel raised his hands in mock defeat. "Just advising."
"Thanks for the advising then." She said. She turned and started walking towards the door.
"You're welcome."
*******
Night came like a raven on dusky wings. Or maybe it was just smog. Sara sat on Danny's couch, waiting for him to get out so they could leave. He emerged wearing a black turtleneck and black jeans.
"I think you have to carry flares. I don't think I could find you." She said. She was wearing black also, but her red shirt made her a brighter beacon.
"Just blending in." He said, laughing.
"Let's go."
The club pulsated with music, and a small crowd had already begun to form.
"Some of these kids look like they're out past bedtime." Sara commented, looking at a group of kids hanging around the edge of the crowd.
"Makes you wonder where their parents think they are." Danny replied. "Sleeping over at Susie and Jimmy's houses."
"So where are Jimmy and Susie?"
They parked far from the club, but close enough for access. Getting out of the car, they start walking towards the back entrance, where Gabriel told them they had to go if they intended on getting in.
A imposing bouncer stood outside a rusty metal door. "What do you want?"
"To get in." Sara said plainly.
The bouncer stared at them, his eyes going from Sara to Danny. He grunted and opened the door. It was pitch black inside, the only light being a rotating strobe light.
"Split up, I hope I find you in the dark." Sara said.
"Be careful."He said. She turned and saw him melting into the crowd.
"You too." She muttered.
*********
"Come on Dave, you have to give me more information than that."
"Gabe, it's not my information. All I can tell you is that there's a new group of blood junkies in town. And they're weird as hell, man. Word is they do rituals and stuff."
"What rituals?"
"I don't know. Crazy stuff. Some people say they like blood."
"Where are they setting up shop?"
"I don't know. They're always on the move. Saw them at the Raven last week. I've never been near any of them and they always stay in groups. They're always watching each other and there's this one dude, one big guy, scary as hell."
"Anything else?"
"That's it, man."
"Well thanks anyway." Gabriel dropped the phone down on the couch and rubbed his eyes. He picked up his mug of coffee and took a sip. Grimacing,, he walked to his small kitchen and dumped it down the sink. He poured a fresh warm cup of coffee into his mug. The phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. He groaned. "Not now, please." He muttered. He picked up the phone. "Yeah?"
While the other person spoke, he sighed and sat down at his computer. Taking a drink from his mug, he heard a familiar chime from his computer speakers. He clicked open his inbox and opened the newly arrived email. "I know."
Hey Gabriel, here's what I know about the new guys in town. I think there's five of them. Three guys and two girls. They came in around last month, maybe. I've seen them hanging around. They don't talk to other people very much. They go into the clubs but they only stay for an hour or so. I called Mickey and he says that they go to the old Sherman warehouses after hitting the clubs. What's this for? You want to make new friends?
"I'm careful." He said. "Really, I'm fine. I have to go now." He nodded and mumbled a few "uh huhs" before hanging up. He read the email again. He doubt he could get much in the way of a call to Sara now, since it was past 11 pm and he doubted that she could hear her phone ring. Another chime and he closed his eyes. He opened them after a while and clicked on the new message.
Don't go after us any more. Do not ask anyone about us, do not ask anyone about where we go. Do not ask about what we do. If you do it again, there will be no more warnings.
There was no name attached to it and the email address was anonymous. Gabriel felt his stomach tighten. In his line of work, trouble came every so often, but someone knew he was snooping around. From the email, he didn't think they knew about Sara, but who knows? He started making calls this afternoon and if they had found out by now, who knows how fast they would find out that a NYPD cop had requested this information?
He sat back and closed his eyes. He took his phone off the cradle and dialed Sara's number. Mid-dial, he dropped the phone back on his desk and picked up his jacket.
*******
"First time." A voice said. Danny turned around and was greeted by a blonde girl with a wide smile. "I always know the new ones."
"You're a regular then?" He said over the music.
She nodded. "What are you?"
"What?" Danny asked. He realized how dumb he looked and cupped a hand to his ear. "Can't hear."
"Let's go somewhere quieter." She said, leaning close.
She walked away and Danny followed, finding his desire to leave fighting very hard against his duty as a detective. For a second he considered not going. But he had barely spoken to anyone since he and Sara arrived.
"What's your name?" He asked the young woman.
"Eva." She said. "What's yours?"
"Me?"
She nodded.
"Uhh-" He saw a brown-jacketed man walk into the club. "Gabriel." He muttered, momentarily forgetting his companion. He quickly looked back.
"Like the angel?"
"Not quite."
She smiled. "Or a fallen angel." She got closer. Danny moved back, avoiding her. "Do you like the culture or are you one of them?"
"I--"
"I know a few of them. They say that the rush of drinking blood really adds to--" Her grin grew wider. "You know..."
"I'm looking for some people." He said, hoping he didn't sound stupid. "Know any new ones in town?"
She shrugged. "They pass by. What's the matter? I'm not entertaining enough?"
Danny ducked and moved to his left. "You're very entertaining, Eva. I'm just wondering if an old friend of mine has been by. He probably doesn't know I'm in the city."
"A few new ones showed up a few weeks ago. Scary bunch of freaks." She said, looking at Danny.
He was tempted to comment on how freakish he considered her to be. But he didn't think girls liked that.
"It was nice meeting you, Eva." Danny said. He left the alley slowly. "I'll see you around."
"Wait."
But he was already inside.
If Danny attracted one, Sara attracted a dozen.
"Beating them off with sticks?" Danny asked her, once he found her hanging by the bar.
"With a verbal stick maybe." She said.
"Careful what you drink here." He said.
"I didn't order a bloody mary, if that's what you're worried about." She said.
"Hey." A man said behind her.
"You're not my type--" She turned. "Gabriel?" She could barely see him in the dark. It was the dim light that he now blocked that she had been able to see Danny. "What are you doing here?"
"We've got a problem." He said, steering her towards the door.
Danny, looking puzzled, followed.
"I got an email from the guys you're looking for supposedly and they don't like me checking up on them. I don't know if they know about you, but chances are, they do now and they'll be looking for you."
"The hunter becomes the prey." A voice boomed. They turned and the three of them looked around. There was no one on the street.
"Who the hell are you?" Sara shouted. Seemingly at thin air.
"I am one called Feyd." The unknown voice said. "Don't bother asking me anything else."
"Let's go." Sara said quickly, thinking of Gabriel. He turned and hailed a cab. Getting in, he glanced at Sara and Danny.
"How was your night?" Sara asked Danny as they drove away.
"Close encounters of the third kind." He replied.
"Same here. Same here..." She grinned.
"There's that Sara Pezzini smile." Danny said, pointing.
There was a ring and Danny picked up his phone.
"Yeah?" He said. "Hey Vick. What? We're there."
He hung up. "There's been another one." He said quietly. "Down near the Sherman warehouses."
*******
The crime scene itself was a myriad of grime and blood stained dirt. It was similar to the park scene, but not buried. This body was instead placed on a stack of crates, like an altar. The police were surrounding the place with yellow tape, which Sara brushed away in annoyance. Midnight on a friday night, who would spoil the fun with a murder...
"Witnesses?" Danny asked.
Detective Rogers nodded. "Over there."
He pointed to a young girl and boy, each about 18 years old.
"Geez, Danny, they're kids."
"Hey. My name is Danny. I'm a detective. What are your names?" He had that knack for starting out casual. Sara usually barreled ahead, not giving much thought to anything otherwise. But Danny had the communication thing down.
"Chris. This is Leslie." The boy mumbled. He looked blank, as if he was speaking from a recorded machine.
"Chris, Leslie. Did you two see who may have done this?" He asked. Sara found Vicky and looked at the body.
"I finished the autopsy on the first two victims. And then Jake ran a few names. They're both active members in the Goth scene. No homes though, drifters."
"Thanks. Any ID on who this is?"
"According to her drivers license, it's Amy Danner. But her necklace said 'Simone' so I guess 'Amy' isn't too popular." Vick said. She shook her head and sighed. "She's only 17. When I was 17, I was going to the movies and hanging out with Jimmy Connor at the park."
"Weren't we all doing something like that?" Sara looked up and saw a familiar face. She groaned.
"Didn't I tell you to go home?" She asked.
Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. "Couldn't be avoided. This is on my way home."
"No it isn't. What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Before I got that email, I got information from a friend of mine." He said. "He said that the people you were looking for went to the Sherman warehouses after ditching the clubs. Who got axed?"
"We don't know who any of they are yet. For all we know, they could just be here for some late night fun. What else did you find?"
He glanced around warily, his brown eyes moving from one blue uniform to another.
"What's the matter, Gabriel? You act like you don't like cops."
He looked at Sara. "I don't." Then he cracked a small smile. "I make exceptions."
"It's the same, most of the blood is gone. Except now the body was on crates."
"An altar." He said quietly. "Like a display."
"Those kids back there, they still have time to make good decisions."
"I'll see what I can find."
"Thanks."
"I'll see you later." Gabriel said.
He started to walk away from the warehouse scene, pulling out something as he walked.
"Hello?"
"Jesse, who are these guys?"
There was some muffled groaning on the other end. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Yeah, and I know that you never sleep this early. Who are they, man?"
"Just some blood types a while ago. You know them, the black clothes, the white makeup, nothing really big."
Gabriel stopped in his tracks. "Jesse, I need real information. You said they did rituals, what are they messing around with?"
"They do some chanting, incense, candles, you know the deal. Nothing huge. Mostly a bunch of wannabes who think they're witches."
"You didn't tell me this before?" He said.
"Gabe, I've been red-flagged. This creepy guy called me up and told me to stop talking to people about them. They're watching us, man. They know we're asking about them."
"You talk to Dave?" He asked Jesse. Gabe wedged the phone between his shoulder and head and started typing on his computer. He couldn't call, he couldn't email. What could he do then? Carrier pigeons?
"Yeah I talked to him a few hours ago. He was at the Masquerade tonight. Said some freaky chick was asking about the new guys."
"Who?"
"He said she had brown hair. He also said she was wearing a really nice bracelet, mentioned that you might like to have that one day."
Gabriel sat up in his chair. "So?"
"So Dave snagged it."
"You serious?" Gabriel said. He felt like screaming. He felt like throwing something. But it wasn't worth it. He had some matrimonial head masks that couldn't be damaged.
"Yeah."
"I'll talk to you later." Gabriel hung up and immediately put on his jacket.
**********
Sara was searching her pockets frantically, taking everything out. Her coffee table was littered with receipts and keys. She called Danny.
"Hey, did you find anything in the car before you left?" She asked. Danny sounded tired. As he should.
"No, it was fine. What happened?"
"I misplaced something, that's all." She said. "Nothing much."
"You all right?"
"Fine." She said. "Sorry for calling so late."
"It's okay."
Sara hung up, not wanting to. But she couldn't talk at the moment. She needed to find it. She closed her eyes and tried to remember where she had left it. She had it before she left for Danny's apartment. She wouldn't be so clumsy to leave it there. The club.
Her eyes grew wide and she quickly left her apartment.
"Club's closed." The bouncer growled at the bar. The bar seemed so different without the strobe light, without the people, without the pulsating music. It seemed almost-lonely. The dim lighting from the ceiling cast shadows upon the bouncer's broad shoulders. "Dawn's almost here."
"I left something here." She said. "A bracelet."
The bouncer took a large brown box from under the bar. "If it's not in there, someone probably took it."
She took the box and quickly searched through it. Among the possessions were a few watches, a cell phone, a jacket, and a belt. No Witchblade.
"Thanks." She muttered, sliding the box back onto the bar.
She left the club and the dimness of dawn greeted her. The early morning hours had an eerie calm to them. The period of time before anyone woke up and began their day and the time after the excitement of the night life. It was a time of rest, where the partiers wound down and the rest of the world started, not knowing what had consumed their city the night before.
Sara pulled her jacket closer to her to combat the early breeze. She stepped up to the curb and hailed a cab.
"Hey."
She turned. "Following me now?"
"I have something you might want back." He said. He took out the Witchblade, it's ruby red amulet looking dull and regular, but holding a quiet power as if it could burst into life at any moment.
She stared at it for a second, the frantic scene at her apartment flashing by.
"Thanks." She said, taking it slowly. "Where'd you find it?"
"Someone took it off your wrist when you weren't aware. How did that happen?"
She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't wearing it, if that's what you're trying to get me to say."
He smiled. "Well, I got it back."
"Don't you sleep?" She asked him. "I'm exhausted. You have caffeine running in your veins?"
"Caffeine and natural curiosity." He said. "It's all I need."
"Thanks for getting this back." She said.
"Wear it this time." He said.
"Will do." Sara said as she stuck it inside her pocket. Gabriel shook his head and started walking.
When he entered his headquarters, he took one look at his computer blinking quietly and quickly entered his bedroom. The phone rang. The door opened and a phone was thrown out. It skidded to the floor and hid itself under the desk.
******
"Vick?" Danny said as he walked into her offices.
"Mmmff." Came the answer.
"Vicky?" He leaned closer. "Vick."
Her head shot up, almost colliding with Danny's. "Geez."
"Sorry."
"No, no, not you." She said absently. "What's going on?"
"You been here all night?" He asked. She nodded.
"The autopsy is done."
"Vick, you shouldn't have." He said, lifting back the sheet to expose the girl's pale face.
"Here's the skinny on our girl. She died the same as the others, loss of blood, except this time I found traces of a potent drug. A sort of new narcotic that hit the market a few months ago. It's called the Shaker. Causes big hallucinations, really trippy stuff. But it takes a long time to kick in and a lot of people overdosed because they didn't think it was working. It was popular for a while, but faded out because the users started getting really bad seizures. The good news is that now that it's out, there are only a few people who still do it, who have developed a sort of dependency or immunity. You should be able to track them down fairly easy."
Danny nodded. "So this could be a black market operation. Blood banks would pay a lot for good blood, but nothing with drugs in it. Anything on the other bodies from the park?"
"Nothing much. Standard spike through the body, made from wood found right here in North America. But that's not how they died."
"What do you mean?" He asked, frowning.
"All of the bodies had one clean cut to the wrists. It's why suicides are so hard to stop. The wrists have vital blood vessels that pump blood to the hands. Sever that, and the blood has nowhere to go but out."
"Then why not just dress them up as suicides?" Danny asked.
"Harder to get victims?" Vick shrugged. "We got the tests back on the plastic found at the park. Nothing. But these guys are messy. They're clumsy and I don't think they're experts. They pick on these kids who really don't have jobs or family to rely on. No one to miss them. They're all homeless."
"Probably why it wasn't made to look like a suicide."
"Did you get anything from the witnesses?" She inquired.
"They followed a bunch of vampire types who said they could give them immortality."
"Immortality isn't what it used to be, huh?"
"Exactly. They followed them to the warehouse. According to the witnesses, they performed some kind of ceremony, supposedly to induct them into the vampire world."
"Are there free peanuts on that flight?" Vick asked dryly.
"I don't think these kids were looking for peanuts."
"Hey Danny." Sara said, walking in.
"Pez, you look like hell."
"Good morning to you too, Vick."
"Here's what we have on the body. I found a big honking dose of Shaker."
"The drug?"
She nodded. "At these levels, she was probably out by the time she died. She might have been on the edge of consciousness though. With this much in her, she would have died from an overdose within six hours."
"Wow." Sara said in disbelief. "What about the other bodies?"
"Nothing. Which leads me to think that this girl took drugs before the ceremony, probably in the club, or before."
"Thanks."
"What else do we have?"
"Nothing very much to go on. As far as we know, there isn't any discernable pattern with these murders. Two on Monday and one last night. If we're lucky, we could be getting a call from a contact down at a blood bank. If they've taken any black market stuff, we'll know about it."
******
"I didn't know either of them very well." He said, taking a drink from his soda. They were sitting inside a brightly decorated office space, the headquarters of a still functioning dotcom company. The bright color contrasted with the simple monochrome clothing the young man wore as he sat at his computer, a screen of numbers, letters, dashes, and brackets rolling by. "But they were really enthusiastic."
"And you weren't?"
"I just have friends there. I go because I don't go anywhere else. These two were the newbies. Not so into the whole of it, just a lot of black clothes and stuff."
"Anyone else you know that we could talk to and get more information?" She asked.
"Everyone's spooked. We're all being more careful and we don't follow who we don't know. But you might want to find a lot of the new people. They're the ones that follow."
"Thanks." Danny said, standing up.
********
He shuffled along the dark corridors, the wood panels creaking as he stepped on them. He heard a particularly loud creak and quickly moved away from the weak floorboard.
"Look what the cat dragged in." A female voice called.
"Hey Eva." He said nervously. She smiled and he grew more nervous.
"What do you have now?" Another voice called.
"Come on, man. I've got good information."
"Then speak."
"All right, so that chick you saw the other night, the one looking for you. She's a detective for the NYPD. They're probably looking for those ritual killings that have happened recently. You don't have anything to do with that right? I mean, I give you information on the scene, you give me cash, it's all clean."
"I want you to keep an eye on one person for me. I believe you know him. Gabriel Bowman. Tell me whatever happens to him. Who visits, when he leaves, when he comes back. Why he is asking about me. And this detective, tell me her name."
"Sara. Sara Pezzini."
"Yeah. Grisly, isn't it?" Vick said, her face troubled.
"You all right?" Sara asked. She nodded.
"The bodies themselves were half buried." She stepped aside and behind her was a big ditch. "Very ugly. It was a quick job, not a lot of care. Shallow graves. And no blood."
"How's the groundskeeper?" Danny asked.
"He's at the hospital. He's all right. Poor guy. Found the bodies and had a heart attack." Vick sighed. She looked down at her gloved hands and quickly peeled off the latex gloves, looking at them in disgust.
"Vick, maybe you should go home. Get some rest." Sara suggested.
"And who's going to determine the cause of death?" She said dryly, looking at the spikes. The joke was, of course, that no one really needed an autopsy to figure out what had killed the two people. "No, I'm fine."
"Are you really, Vick?" Danny asked. "I don't know. Late hours--"
"Danny, I'm fine." She said. She nodded. "Really."
Sara nodded in concession. "Okay. Is there anything else you can tell from the bodies?"
"Uh, well, the amount of blood suggests that a lot of it was taken out of the body before they uh--you know. Or maybe during."
".... Thanks for the visuals." Sara said quietly. She looked down at her feet. "Crap."
"What?"
"Well, it rained last night, right? Footprints?" She said, looking down at her boot marks in the dirt.
"Well, when forensics arrived this morning they yellow taped the whole area. There were shoeprints from the farmer, but none others were found. We did find these marks though, and bits of plastic snagged on sticks nearby."
"Killer was wearing plastic bags on his shoes." Danny concluded.
"Most likely." Vick said. "We're going to run the plastic to see if it can tell us anything."
Sara's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID.
"Beautiful." She said sarcastically. "It's Mays."
Danny sighed. "Great."
"It's okay, Danny, stay and get all the information we can get."
"You sure?"
"What, miss out on the opportunity to have a meeting with Mays? I'd never." Sara said, smiling.
***********
"What kind of freak show are we running here, Pezzini?!" He threw down the file onto the desk. "I have a double murder and two bodies on poles with their blood gone?"
"Sir--"
"This is what I am telling the family?" Mays fumed. "Mr. and Mrs. Franklin, your daughter was killed by a killer with sloppy burial skills. Do you know anyone who fits that description?"
"Look, Mays, all I'm saying is that this is what Vicky found. I can't explain it, but I do know that it narrows things down considerably."
"I don't care what it is, find the killer. I have the entire city breathing down my neck for this. Grandmas are calling up the station wondering if they should keep their daughters indoors, fearing a raving lunatic is going to take their blood."
*******
"How was the meeting?" Danny asked as Sara entered the office.
Sara's weary look was all he needed in an answer.
"Not quite what you expected I guess."
"From that guy? Oh it was everything I expected." She shrugged and sank into her chair.
"Well, at least there aren't very many people in New York with an affinity for blood."
Sara looked at her partner. "You bet?"
*******
"So I was doing some digging. The way you describe these murders, and from any information I got off the news, what you may be looking for is a vampire."
"A what?" Sara said, staring at Gabriel. "Are you serious?"
"Completely. You see, the way the murder was arranged, I would say that there was more than one killer. Maybe even an occult ritual. The draining of blood would suggest a vampiric act. Its unlikely though. Looks a bit gaudy, a little cliched. I wouldn't be surprised if you found a pentagram. But in the real case, if it was an occult ritual, whoever did it probably knew about Vlad Tepes."
"Who was he?"
"Vlad Tepes was a 15th century prince in Romania who was known for his bloody conquests. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler, because of his penchant for uh impaling his enemies on tall poles. And there were rumors that he took their blood and drank it. That's probably a bit exaggerated."
Gabriel walked to his computer and the screensaver disappeared, showing the Talismaniac wallpaper. He pulled up a webpage, where a large drawing glared back at them. It depicted bodies on stakes, their charcoal faces twisted in anguish. And it showed black going down the poles. The phone rang and Gabriel looked around. The phone cradle was empty, it's cordless counterpart hidden under piles of papers somewhere. After about six rings, he gave up.
"Nice hobby." She commented.
"That's not all. I'm thinking that your killers, or killer, believe they are vampires. A lot of these guys are really nice, but you do get the fanaticals, the nutjobs. And occasionally, a few do drink blood. A lot of those suffer--well, it's all pleasure for them--from a condition called Renfield's Syndrome. It's a psychological condition in which they have this attraction to drinking blood."
"Isn't that really unhealthy?" She asked, her face changed in disgust.
"Well, sort of. But in the past, tribes in Africa have been reported to have blood-drinking rituals, believing that the blood of a good hunter or a tribe leader possessed power. Sometimes it is actually a plausible idea. The Maasai for example mixed blood with milk and it is a good source of protein."
"So I'm looking for people that believe they are the undead?" She asked in disbelief.
"Or are pretending to be. And they'd be attracted to the scene, maybe even a worship complex." Gabriel moved his mouse and brought up a second webpage. Sara saw a listing for vampire 'clubs' in the area. He had printed out several addresses and now handed them to Sara. "These clubs open after dark, around 10 on most nights. They close an hour before dawn."
"And how do you know so much about what goes on?" She asked.
"I know people who know people." Gabriel shrugged. "Anyway, watch out. Appearance is everything if you're trying to blend in." He looked at Sara's leather jacket, zip up sweatshirt and jeans. "You might want to look less like a cop."
"Gee, thanks." She said.
Gabriel raised his hands in mock defeat. "Just advising."
"Thanks for the advising then." She said. She turned and started walking towards the door.
"You're welcome."
*******
Night came like a raven on dusky wings. Or maybe it was just smog. Sara sat on Danny's couch, waiting for him to get out so they could leave. He emerged wearing a black turtleneck and black jeans.
"I think you have to carry flares. I don't think I could find you." She said. She was wearing black also, but her red shirt made her a brighter beacon.
"Just blending in." He said, laughing.
"Let's go."
The club pulsated with music, and a small crowd had already begun to form.
"Some of these kids look like they're out past bedtime." Sara commented, looking at a group of kids hanging around the edge of the crowd.
"Makes you wonder where their parents think they are." Danny replied. "Sleeping over at Susie and Jimmy's houses."
"So where are Jimmy and Susie?"
They parked far from the club, but close enough for access. Getting out of the car, they start walking towards the back entrance, where Gabriel told them they had to go if they intended on getting in.
A imposing bouncer stood outside a rusty metal door. "What do you want?"
"To get in." Sara said plainly.
The bouncer stared at them, his eyes going from Sara to Danny. He grunted and opened the door. It was pitch black inside, the only light being a rotating strobe light.
"Split up, I hope I find you in the dark." Sara said.
"Be careful."He said. She turned and saw him melting into the crowd.
"You too." She muttered.
*********
"Come on Dave, you have to give me more information than that."
"Gabe, it's not my information. All I can tell you is that there's a new group of blood junkies in town. And they're weird as hell, man. Word is they do rituals and stuff."
"What rituals?"
"I don't know. Crazy stuff. Some people say they like blood."
"Where are they setting up shop?"
"I don't know. They're always on the move. Saw them at the Raven last week. I've never been near any of them and they always stay in groups. They're always watching each other and there's this one dude, one big guy, scary as hell."
"Anything else?"
"That's it, man."
"Well thanks anyway." Gabriel dropped the phone down on the couch and rubbed his eyes. He picked up his mug of coffee and took a sip. Grimacing,, he walked to his small kitchen and dumped it down the sink. He poured a fresh warm cup of coffee into his mug. The phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. He groaned. "Not now, please." He muttered. He picked up the phone. "Yeah?"
While the other person spoke, he sighed and sat down at his computer. Taking a drink from his mug, he heard a familiar chime from his computer speakers. He clicked open his inbox and opened the newly arrived email. "I know."
Hey Gabriel, here's what I know about the new guys in town. I think there's five of them. Three guys and two girls. They came in around last month, maybe. I've seen them hanging around. They don't talk to other people very much. They go into the clubs but they only stay for an hour or so. I called Mickey and he says that they go to the old Sherman warehouses after hitting the clubs. What's this for? You want to make new friends?
"I'm careful." He said. "Really, I'm fine. I have to go now." He nodded and mumbled a few "uh huhs" before hanging up. He read the email again. He doubt he could get much in the way of a call to Sara now, since it was past 11 pm and he doubted that she could hear her phone ring. Another chime and he closed his eyes. He opened them after a while and clicked on the new message.
Don't go after us any more. Do not ask anyone about us, do not ask anyone about where we go. Do not ask about what we do. If you do it again, there will be no more warnings.
There was no name attached to it and the email address was anonymous. Gabriel felt his stomach tighten. In his line of work, trouble came every so often, but someone knew he was snooping around. From the email, he didn't think they knew about Sara, but who knows? He started making calls this afternoon and if they had found out by now, who knows how fast they would find out that a NYPD cop had requested this information?
He sat back and closed his eyes. He took his phone off the cradle and dialed Sara's number. Mid-dial, he dropped the phone back on his desk and picked up his jacket.
*******
"First time." A voice said. Danny turned around and was greeted by a blonde girl with a wide smile. "I always know the new ones."
"You're a regular then?" He said over the music.
She nodded. "What are you?"
"What?" Danny asked. He realized how dumb he looked and cupped a hand to his ear. "Can't hear."
"Let's go somewhere quieter." She said, leaning close.
She walked away and Danny followed, finding his desire to leave fighting very hard against his duty as a detective. For a second he considered not going. But he had barely spoken to anyone since he and Sara arrived.
"What's your name?" He asked the young woman.
"Eva." She said. "What's yours?"
"Me?"
She nodded.
"Uhh-" He saw a brown-jacketed man walk into the club. "Gabriel." He muttered, momentarily forgetting his companion. He quickly looked back.
"Like the angel?"
"Not quite."
She smiled. "Or a fallen angel." She got closer. Danny moved back, avoiding her. "Do you like the culture or are you one of them?"
"I--"
"I know a few of them. They say that the rush of drinking blood really adds to--" Her grin grew wider. "You know..."
"I'm looking for some people." He said, hoping he didn't sound stupid. "Know any new ones in town?"
She shrugged. "They pass by. What's the matter? I'm not entertaining enough?"
Danny ducked and moved to his left. "You're very entertaining, Eva. I'm just wondering if an old friend of mine has been by. He probably doesn't know I'm in the city."
"A few new ones showed up a few weeks ago. Scary bunch of freaks." She said, looking at Danny.
He was tempted to comment on how freakish he considered her to be. But he didn't think girls liked that.
"It was nice meeting you, Eva." Danny said. He left the alley slowly. "I'll see you around."
"Wait."
But he was already inside.
If Danny attracted one, Sara attracted a dozen.
"Beating them off with sticks?" Danny asked her, once he found her hanging by the bar.
"With a verbal stick maybe." She said.
"Careful what you drink here." He said.
"I didn't order a bloody mary, if that's what you're worried about." She said.
"Hey." A man said behind her.
"You're not my type--" She turned. "Gabriel?" She could barely see him in the dark. It was the dim light that he now blocked that she had been able to see Danny. "What are you doing here?"
"We've got a problem." He said, steering her towards the door.
Danny, looking puzzled, followed.
"I got an email from the guys you're looking for supposedly and they don't like me checking up on them. I don't know if they know about you, but chances are, they do now and they'll be looking for you."
"The hunter becomes the prey." A voice boomed. They turned and the three of them looked around. There was no one on the street.
"Who the hell are you?" Sara shouted. Seemingly at thin air.
"I am one called Feyd." The unknown voice said. "Don't bother asking me anything else."
"Let's go." Sara said quickly, thinking of Gabriel. He turned and hailed a cab. Getting in, he glanced at Sara and Danny.
"How was your night?" Sara asked Danny as they drove away.
"Close encounters of the third kind." He replied.
"Same here. Same here..." She grinned.
"There's that Sara Pezzini smile." Danny said, pointing.
There was a ring and Danny picked up his phone.
"Yeah?" He said. "Hey Vick. What? We're there."
He hung up. "There's been another one." He said quietly. "Down near the Sherman warehouses."
*******
The crime scene itself was a myriad of grime and blood stained dirt. It was similar to the park scene, but not buried. This body was instead placed on a stack of crates, like an altar. The police were surrounding the place with yellow tape, which Sara brushed away in annoyance. Midnight on a friday night, who would spoil the fun with a murder...
"Witnesses?" Danny asked.
Detective Rogers nodded. "Over there."
He pointed to a young girl and boy, each about 18 years old.
"Geez, Danny, they're kids."
"Hey. My name is Danny. I'm a detective. What are your names?" He had that knack for starting out casual. Sara usually barreled ahead, not giving much thought to anything otherwise. But Danny had the communication thing down.
"Chris. This is Leslie." The boy mumbled. He looked blank, as if he was speaking from a recorded machine.
"Chris, Leslie. Did you two see who may have done this?" He asked. Sara found Vicky and looked at the body.
"I finished the autopsy on the first two victims. And then Jake ran a few names. They're both active members in the Goth scene. No homes though, drifters."
"Thanks. Any ID on who this is?"
"According to her drivers license, it's Amy Danner. But her necklace said 'Simone' so I guess 'Amy' isn't too popular." Vick said. She shook her head and sighed. "She's only 17. When I was 17, I was going to the movies and hanging out with Jimmy Connor at the park."
"Weren't we all doing something like that?" Sara looked up and saw a familiar face. She groaned.
"Didn't I tell you to go home?" She asked.
Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. "Couldn't be avoided. This is on my way home."
"No it isn't. What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Before I got that email, I got information from a friend of mine." He said. "He said that the people you were looking for went to the Sherman warehouses after ditching the clubs. Who got axed?"
"We don't know who any of they are yet. For all we know, they could just be here for some late night fun. What else did you find?"
He glanced around warily, his brown eyes moving from one blue uniform to another.
"What's the matter, Gabriel? You act like you don't like cops."
He looked at Sara. "I don't." Then he cracked a small smile. "I make exceptions."
"It's the same, most of the blood is gone. Except now the body was on crates."
"An altar." He said quietly. "Like a display."
"Those kids back there, they still have time to make good decisions."
"I'll see what I can find."
"Thanks."
"I'll see you later." Gabriel said.
He started to walk away from the warehouse scene, pulling out something as he walked.
"Hello?"
"Jesse, who are these guys?"
There was some muffled groaning on the other end. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Yeah, and I know that you never sleep this early. Who are they, man?"
"Just some blood types a while ago. You know them, the black clothes, the white makeup, nothing really big."
Gabriel stopped in his tracks. "Jesse, I need real information. You said they did rituals, what are they messing around with?"
"They do some chanting, incense, candles, you know the deal. Nothing huge. Mostly a bunch of wannabes who think they're witches."
"You didn't tell me this before?" He said.
"Gabe, I've been red-flagged. This creepy guy called me up and told me to stop talking to people about them. They're watching us, man. They know we're asking about them."
"You talk to Dave?" He asked Jesse. Gabe wedged the phone between his shoulder and head and started typing on his computer. He couldn't call, he couldn't email. What could he do then? Carrier pigeons?
"Yeah I talked to him a few hours ago. He was at the Masquerade tonight. Said some freaky chick was asking about the new guys."
"Who?"
"He said she had brown hair. He also said she was wearing a really nice bracelet, mentioned that you might like to have that one day."
Gabriel sat up in his chair. "So?"
"So Dave snagged it."
"You serious?" Gabriel said. He felt like screaming. He felt like throwing something. But it wasn't worth it. He had some matrimonial head masks that couldn't be damaged.
"Yeah."
"I'll talk to you later." Gabriel hung up and immediately put on his jacket.
**********
Sara was searching her pockets frantically, taking everything out. Her coffee table was littered with receipts and keys. She called Danny.
"Hey, did you find anything in the car before you left?" She asked. Danny sounded tired. As he should.
"No, it was fine. What happened?"
"I misplaced something, that's all." She said. "Nothing much."
"You all right?"
"Fine." She said. "Sorry for calling so late."
"It's okay."
Sara hung up, not wanting to. But she couldn't talk at the moment. She needed to find it. She closed her eyes and tried to remember where she had left it. She had it before she left for Danny's apartment. She wouldn't be so clumsy to leave it there. The club.
Her eyes grew wide and she quickly left her apartment.
"Club's closed." The bouncer growled at the bar. The bar seemed so different without the strobe light, without the people, without the pulsating music. It seemed almost-lonely. The dim lighting from the ceiling cast shadows upon the bouncer's broad shoulders. "Dawn's almost here."
"I left something here." She said. "A bracelet."
The bouncer took a large brown box from under the bar. "If it's not in there, someone probably took it."
She took the box and quickly searched through it. Among the possessions were a few watches, a cell phone, a jacket, and a belt. No Witchblade.
"Thanks." She muttered, sliding the box back onto the bar.
She left the club and the dimness of dawn greeted her. The early morning hours had an eerie calm to them. The period of time before anyone woke up and began their day and the time after the excitement of the night life. It was a time of rest, where the partiers wound down and the rest of the world started, not knowing what had consumed their city the night before.
Sara pulled her jacket closer to her to combat the early breeze. She stepped up to the curb and hailed a cab.
"Hey."
She turned. "Following me now?"
"I have something you might want back." He said. He took out the Witchblade, it's ruby red amulet looking dull and regular, but holding a quiet power as if it could burst into life at any moment.
She stared at it for a second, the frantic scene at her apartment flashing by.
"Thanks." She said, taking it slowly. "Where'd you find it?"
"Someone took it off your wrist when you weren't aware. How did that happen?"
She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't wearing it, if that's what you're trying to get me to say."
He smiled. "Well, I got it back."
"Don't you sleep?" She asked him. "I'm exhausted. You have caffeine running in your veins?"
"Caffeine and natural curiosity." He said. "It's all I need."
"Thanks for getting this back." She said.
"Wear it this time." He said.
"Will do." Sara said as she stuck it inside her pocket. Gabriel shook his head and started walking.
When he entered his headquarters, he took one look at his computer blinking quietly and quickly entered his bedroom. The phone rang. The door opened and a phone was thrown out. It skidded to the floor and hid itself under the desk.
******
"Vick?" Danny said as he walked into her offices.
"Mmmff." Came the answer.
"Vicky?" He leaned closer. "Vick."
Her head shot up, almost colliding with Danny's. "Geez."
"Sorry."
"No, no, not you." She said absently. "What's going on?"
"You been here all night?" He asked. She nodded.
"The autopsy is done."
"Vick, you shouldn't have." He said, lifting back the sheet to expose the girl's pale face.
"Here's the skinny on our girl. She died the same as the others, loss of blood, except this time I found traces of a potent drug. A sort of new narcotic that hit the market a few months ago. It's called the Shaker. Causes big hallucinations, really trippy stuff. But it takes a long time to kick in and a lot of people overdosed because they didn't think it was working. It was popular for a while, but faded out because the users started getting really bad seizures. The good news is that now that it's out, there are only a few people who still do it, who have developed a sort of dependency or immunity. You should be able to track them down fairly easy."
Danny nodded. "So this could be a black market operation. Blood banks would pay a lot for good blood, but nothing with drugs in it. Anything on the other bodies from the park?"
"Nothing much. Standard spike through the body, made from wood found right here in North America. But that's not how they died."
"What do you mean?" He asked, frowning.
"All of the bodies had one clean cut to the wrists. It's why suicides are so hard to stop. The wrists have vital blood vessels that pump blood to the hands. Sever that, and the blood has nowhere to go but out."
"Then why not just dress them up as suicides?" Danny asked.
"Harder to get victims?" Vick shrugged. "We got the tests back on the plastic found at the park. Nothing. But these guys are messy. They're clumsy and I don't think they're experts. They pick on these kids who really don't have jobs or family to rely on. No one to miss them. They're all homeless."
"Probably why it wasn't made to look like a suicide."
"Did you get anything from the witnesses?" She inquired.
"They followed a bunch of vampire types who said they could give them immortality."
"Immortality isn't what it used to be, huh?"
"Exactly. They followed them to the warehouse. According to the witnesses, they performed some kind of ceremony, supposedly to induct them into the vampire world."
"Are there free peanuts on that flight?" Vick asked dryly.
"I don't think these kids were looking for peanuts."
"Hey Danny." Sara said, walking in.
"Pez, you look like hell."
"Good morning to you too, Vick."
"Here's what we have on the body. I found a big honking dose of Shaker."
"The drug?"
She nodded. "At these levels, she was probably out by the time she died. She might have been on the edge of consciousness though. With this much in her, she would have died from an overdose within six hours."
"Wow." Sara said in disbelief. "What about the other bodies?"
"Nothing. Which leads me to think that this girl took drugs before the ceremony, probably in the club, or before."
"Thanks."
"What else do we have?"
"Nothing very much to go on. As far as we know, there isn't any discernable pattern with these murders. Two on Monday and one last night. If we're lucky, we could be getting a call from a contact down at a blood bank. If they've taken any black market stuff, we'll know about it."
******
"I didn't know either of them very well." He said, taking a drink from his soda. They were sitting inside a brightly decorated office space, the headquarters of a still functioning dotcom company. The bright color contrasted with the simple monochrome clothing the young man wore as he sat at his computer, a screen of numbers, letters, dashes, and brackets rolling by. "But they were really enthusiastic."
"And you weren't?"
"I just have friends there. I go because I don't go anywhere else. These two were the newbies. Not so into the whole of it, just a lot of black clothes and stuff."
"Anyone else you know that we could talk to and get more information?" She asked.
"Everyone's spooked. We're all being more careful and we don't follow who we don't know. But you might want to find a lot of the new people. They're the ones that follow."
"Thanks." Danny said, standing up.
********
He shuffled along the dark corridors, the wood panels creaking as he stepped on them. He heard a particularly loud creak and quickly moved away from the weak floorboard.
"Look what the cat dragged in." A female voice called.
"Hey Eva." He said nervously. She smiled and he grew more nervous.
"What do you have now?" Another voice called.
"Come on, man. I've got good information."
"Then speak."
"All right, so that chick you saw the other night, the one looking for you. She's a detective for the NYPD. They're probably looking for those ritual killings that have happened recently. You don't have anything to do with that right? I mean, I give you information on the scene, you give me cash, it's all clean."
"I want you to keep an eye on one person for me. I believe you know him. Gabriel Bowman. Tell me whatever happens to him. Who visits, when he leaves, when he comes back. Why he is asking about me. And this detective, tell me her name."
"Sara. Sara Pezzini."