Chapter Eight: "You All Have a Vampire Problem"
"How is Mariah?" Lindsay asked Stella.
Stella nodded to Mac's office, where their boss was in talking to the teen. "She's still afraid that whoever was after her is going to find her."
"There's something weird about this whole case," Lindsay said. "The whole thing is just…off. A creepy club, vics with vampire bites, creepy suspects with glowing eyes and the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound…it doesn't make any sense."
"Don't forget the whole 'drained of blood' thing," Stella reminded her. "This case gets creepier by the minute."
"Oh, it gets better," said Adam. He handed Stella a small evidence bag. "This is the cross necklace that Gennifer Holland was wearing when she died. See anything?"
Stella studied it. "There's bits of…is that skin?"
He nodded. "Yup. Skin. Stuck to the cross. Charred skin."
"Wait…crosses aren't good for dead things," Lindsay spoke up. "In fact…crosses burn dead things."
Stella was shaking her head in disbelief. "No. No. There has to be a rational explanation," she said.
"There is," Adam said, echoing Marty Pino. "Vampires."
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Flack couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You want to say that…again?" he demanded.
The oldest boy-Dean- shook his head. "You want the Cliff Notes version? You all have a vampire problem. We-" here he nodded to his brother- "are here to kill them for you."
Flack turned to Danny. "Vampires. Right," he scoffed.
Dean turned to Sam. "See? Told you he wouldn't believe us."
"You still haven't explained to us what you're doing out here in the middle of the night," Danny said.
The youngest, Sam, took the wheel. "Your office- you are from the crime lab, right?" When Danny nodded, he continued. "You've been getting some weird corpses lately. Sucked dry from two little holes in their necks, right?"
"Two this week," Danny replied. Flack glared at him.
"Danny, what the hell?"
"Just listen," Danny told him. "How do you know about those?"
Dean grinned. "Sammy's pretty handy with a computer."
"It's Sam," the other brother replied. "And I hacked your files, yes. The first DNA sample you pulled from a victim came back to a dead guy too, right?"
From inside the grave, Hawkes said, "Yes. We chalked it up to a glitch in the computer."
"Yeah, well it isn't a glitch. Dean and I just dug him up. There's nothing home at his place, either. And then we heard about Grayson North, thought we'd come check it out." Sam smiled. "Lucky for us, you update your files pretty fast."
"Basically, you've got an army of the dead with fangs waltzing around here, suckin' people dry," Dean said. "And this is just the beginning. It's gonna get worse. Because these aren't just any vampires. Most vampires take what they need to get a fix, leave the rest alone. But there's a certain kind of vampire. Not only are they thirsty SOBs, but they're power-hungry, too. They're using that blood to open a portal-"
Flack burst out laughing. Dean glared at him. If looks could kill, Flack'd be buried in Grayson North's grave. "You aren't serious," Flack said. "Vampires. Real ones." He looked at Danny. "Tell me you're not buying this!"
Danny could only shrug. He'd seen what he'd seen at Darkness Falls. "You got any other ideas?" he asked his friend.
Just then, Hawkes poked his head up from the grave. "Whatever was in here clawed his way out." He pulled back the lining of the coffin so Danny could see the gaping scratch marks. "Right up through the dirt."
Dean shrugged. "You think a live person clawed its way out of there? Hell no." He shook his head. "Don't you all know your vampire lore?"
"Sorry, I haven't seen Buffy in a while," Flack shot back.
Danny looked at Don Flack. "Hey…you watched Buffy?"
Flack didn't miss a beat. "Sarah Michelle was a babe." He turned to Dean and Sam. "You're crazy." He looked at Danny. "This is insane. None of this makes sense. Vampires? Portals?"
"Flack…can I see ya over here for a second?" Danny said. His friend turned to look at him. Danny raised his eyebrows impatiently. Flack sighed and followed him a short distance away from the two suspect brothers.
"Danny, tell me you're not buying into this," Flack said.
Danny avoided his eyes. "Danny?" Flack pressed.
"I think…I think they're telling the truth."
"Really? And how do you justify that?"
"Because…"Danny sighed. Here we go… "Because I… Lindsay and I and Hawkes saw the killer."
"And?"
Danny shifted uncomfortably. "His eyes…glowed."
Flack snorted…until he realized that Danny was serious. "Danny. You're not kidding me, are you."
He shook his head. "No."
Hawkes hopped out of the grave. "Aside from scraping the sides of the hole punched through the top of the coffin, there really isn't much we can do here. I think it's safe to say that Grayson North is not dead, and he's running around out there killing people."
"What was the name of the first guy we pulled up?" Danny asked.
"Jason Vox."
Danny looked over at Dean and Sam. "Jason Vox. That the guy you dug up earlier?"
Sam nodded. "That's him."
"He's not dead, either?"
"Technically, he is dead," Dean spoke up.
Flack shot him a Look. "Let's take these guys downtown, stick 'em to a polygraph," he suggested.
Both boys tensed. "You really don't want to do that," Dean said.
"I really do," Flack shot back. "I can't tell you how much I do."
"Your connection to all of the dead girls is Darkness Falls," Sam finally said. "The club. That's where they're finding them."
Danny, Flack and Hawkes exchanged looks. "Huddle," Danny suggested.
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Dean snorted. "Are they serious?" he muttered under his breath.
"Shut up," Sam hissed under his breath. "You probably don't want them running you through a database and finding out you're dead, do you?"
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"Flack," Danny was saying, "right now those two kids are our only source of information. Everything they're saying coincides with the evidence."
"Yeah, probably because they're involved somehow," Flack replied. "I say we take them downtown and book 'em."
Hawkes said, "I say we take them downtown and pump them for information. Pick their brains. If they aren't involved in the killings…then they'll know how to make them stop."
Flack threw his hands up in frustration. "I'm not gonna get through to you, am I?" He shook his head. "Gerrard is gonna have my ass." He looked at Danny and Hawkes. "And Mac'll have yours."
"I'll take the risk," Danny replied.
"Get up!" Flack barked at Dean and Sam.
The two brothers looked at each other and climbed to their feet. "We're goin' for a ride," Flack said.
Dean looked at the detective. "Is this the part where you kill us?"
Flack glared at him. "Don't tempt me."