The weeks passed. They found nothing. Even returning to the restaurant proved useless. Sophie figured that the vampires probably found a new meeting place. The snow melted, and the referendum was less than a fortnight away.
Peter's store was home to insulting graffiti a few more times, but he didn't let it get to him. They hadn't found anything about any evil plan, and Sophie was beginning to doubt that the man was even a vampire.
It was a cool night, but not to cold, comfotable enough for just a long sleeved shirt. Sophie was on her nightly patrol. She was walking around the Old Port. It was kind of a tourist attraction, sort of like a boardwalk where you could rent bicycles, stroll around, and have your portrait drawn by artists who set up their booths along the paved way. The sort of place where one who would stray away from the public place could meet a deadly end. Sophie was enjoying the crisp night, even forgetting for a minute or two what she was doing there. Then she saw him. She recognized him immediately. The man from the restaurant. All doubts about his vampirism melted away. The way he was eyeing a young lady a dozen meters away from him, Sophie knew exactly what he was thinking. Dinner.
She went over to a group of people gathered around a girl being drawn. They were clapping at the artist's rendition of her on paper. The group would hide her, and allow her to watch the vampire without being noticed. The lady was heading off toward a side street, probably to get her car. Parking was tough around here, and the only way to do it was park on a street far from the main crowd. She watched Vampy and saw him make his move, start to follow his prey. Sophie even thought she saw him lick his lips. She kept her distance from him, always keeping her eye on him. Even though she thought she didn't need to be too discreet. He was so concentrated on his next meal, that Sophie thought she could probably follow him from less than a few feet and he wouldn't notice.
The lady arrived at her car, opened her purse up and started to search for her keys, when a noise made her jump and turn around, to face Vampy.
"Est-ce que je peux vous aider?" She asked nervously.
"Yes, you can help me. I'm kind of hungry…" The beast showed its true face, his distorted figures, and yellow eyes mocking the woman, who fainted.
"Hey pal, I don't think she can help you. Besides, I think you should go on a diet, looks like you've been letting yourself go!" Sophie said from behind him.
He turned to face her. A confused look on his face, as he was unused to being mocked by a human. The confusion didn't last long. He lunged at Sophie, who evaded his attack by stepping to the side, all while kicking him in the gut. Vampy quickly recovered and was on her in a flash. He hit her with a left uppercut, she stumbled a bit, but regained her bearings rapidly, took a stake out of her pocket, and threw it in the vampires leg. He yelped and fell back, clutching his wounded leg.
"You think a stake in the leg hurts? I hear one in the chest could do some real damage to a fellow like you."
She ran to him, grabbed her weapon, and sat on his chest with her stake pointed at his midsection.
"Now you're going to give me some answers. I saw you a couple of weeks ago in a restaurant conversing with some buddies about some big plan. What you're going to tell me is what you're thinking of doing. And if you don't want to cooperate with me, I know a million ways to torture your kind. A little sunlight here, a little holy water there, it's quite entertaining." The vampire looked up at her, and quickly guessed she wasn't kidding.
"You'll never stop it. You'll just die with the rest of them" he spat.
"Who? Tell me!" She punched him, the vampire laughed.
It's going to be the greatest thing yet, all those people. The night of the referendum when the seperatists are gathered at Paul-Sauvé auditorium to await the outcome of the vote, that's when well make our move."
"But what are you going to do with all those corpses?" Sophie knew what he was about to say, but wished she didn't.
"They'll never suspect anything. The blame will quickly be put, but not on us" he laughed more, blood dripping from his mouth. Sophie knew what they were planning.
"After you've dined, you're gonna blow up the place, and then blame it on the federalists!" Sophie felt like throwing up. Who knew what effects it would have, tensions were already skyhigh between the two groups. And all those unsuspecting people… The vampire grinned at her, and she had enough. She staked him. Soon she was just sitting on a pile of dust.
She was so distraught by what she had just learned, that she almost forgot the lady who had fainted. She rushed over to her and lightly tapped her on the cheek. The woman opened her eyes, and Sophie convinced her that she just had a fainting spell. Thank god people repress things so easily, Sophie thought.
"Who is it?" Francis' voice rang out from the intercom in his building's doorway.
"It's me." She heard the buzz of the door opening and rushed over to the elevator. She was soon knocking loudly at his door.
"Shut up with that racket! I'm trying to sleep here. Maudit… " Francis' neighbor cried from inside his place.
Soon Francis was standing in his doorway in a t-shirt and flannel pyjama pants. He immediately saw the panicked look on Sophie's face, because he inquired about it.
"Soph, what's wrong?" He moved aside so she could enter his place. It was a small place, a little untidy, but cozy. She paced around the small living room.
"I found out what they're planning! Oh god, it's horrible" She started to cry. Francis had never seen her this emotional before, and it worried him.
After she had told him, she lay down on the couch. Francis could see that she was exhausted, the night's events had depleted her of her energy, mental and physical. He grabbed a blanket from the closet and put it on Sophie. He sat in a chair near her and watched her sleep.
