Chapter 3: I'm Freezing
Wild:
I pulled up beside a police cruiser, right outside a run down trailer in one of the county's many trailer parks. I put on my shades and got out of my car. I made my way through the crowd of police officers, detectives and CSI. An officer with a big round belly staggered out of the trailer in question and promptly spewed his lunch all over the sun dried grass.
I found my partner, Skulls, there waiting for me by the yellow tape barrier. His bald head shined brightly in the hot Texas sun. I pulled my coat tighter around me, pulling up the collar like it was twenty degrees in the dead of winter instead of upwards of ninety.
"About time you showed up." Skulls greeted, crossing his powerful arms over his barrel chest.
"Sorry. I still have a nasty hang over from last night." I explained. My head was still spinning. "So fill me in on what's going on."
"Vamp attack. The whole Wiliker family's been slaughtered. There's one survivor, the youngest son, Roger." Skulls said, bringing his voice down to a barely detectable whisper so that we would not be over heard by the badges.
"I'd like to take a look." I said.
Skulls and I passed under the yellow tape and entered the old trailer. I instantly understood why the cops were getting sick. The smell of blood and rotting flesh slammed into my face. My stomach began to growl. God I was hungry. Skulls stood by the door as I made my way around the house. Mr. Wiliker was lying on the floor beside his recliner. His throat was ripped open from ear to ear. I found Mrs. Wiliker in the kitchen. She was in much the same condition, except her head had been completely removed. At the back of the trailer I found two little girls and a two year old boy. I won't go into details on what they looked like. Even a guy like me, gets teary eyed at the sight of dead children. The faces of the cops around me were solemn. They all looked sick and I had little doubt that they'd have to scrub extra hard tonight to get the stench of death off their skin. This was the most unnerving part of my job. The horrors that I saw every day had little effect on me. I shrugged it off, no matter how gruesome the sight. Even the deaths of children. It was on days like this that I realized just how used to the stench of death I'd become. For most people, the smell of death turns their stomachs, makes them sick. It just makes me hungry. It's like the smell of roasted chicken to a starving man. You want to know why? Well…let's just say the killer and I aren't that different.
"Where's the boy?" I asked the cop next to me.
"With the ambulance. We wanted to make sure he was okay." He answered, patting his forehead with a napkin. He gave me a strange look. "Aren't you hot?" He asked, inquiring as to why I was all bundled up.
"No. I'm freezing." I said and went outside to the paramedics.
Two paramedics, a man and a woman, were checking the boy over for wounds. The boy, maybe ten years old, was absolutely drenched in blood. His face was drawn and pale and he was shaking. I looked into the boy's eyes and I learned all that I needed to. They were oddly dark and they shifted erratically. I was all too familiar with the signs. This boy, this child, was our murderer. The rogue vampire we'd been sent to find.
"Can you give me a moment with Roger here?" I asked the paramedics.
"Who are you?" The man asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
I flashed him my badge. " Agent Adam Wilder with the V.V.P.A. I'm here investigating the killings."
"The V.V.P.A? I've never heard of it." Said the woman, giving me the eye as well.
" You wouldn't. We work for the government. Our work is strictly classified." I slipped off my sunglasses and looked deeply into her dark eyes. "Now please leave so I can talk to this witness." I said.
As expected, her eyes glassed over with a strange haze. "Yes sir." She said. She took the man by the arm. "Come on Frank, let's let the man work." She said, dreamily. Reluctantly, the man allowed himself to be dragged off. I put my shades back on and turned my attention back to the boy.
"Hello, Roger." I greeted the child.
He looked at me and I saw him tense up. Unsurprisingly, he knew exactly what I was. Our kind can recognize each other just by scent. "How long have you been like this?" I asked him.
He didn't say anything. He just looked up at me with the terrified eyes of a normal, innocent child. "It's alright. I won't hurt you. I'm not like the one that changed you." I said.
"I-I didn't mean to. I-I was just…so hungry." He whimpered, bloody tears dripping down his face.
I put my hand on his shoulder. "I know, son. I know. It's okay." I kneeled down in front of him and took out my wallet. "You know, I have a daughter. Her name's Lillian." I took out my only photo of my little girl and showed it to him. "She's five there. She's much older than you now." I said, soothingly.
"This picture's really old." He pointed out, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
"I'm really old, myself and I've been a vampire for most of my life. I can help you." I said.
He looked at me questioningly, "Really? How? Can you make the pain stop?"
"No, but I can take you to a place where they'll teach you to control yourself, so that something like this doesn't happen again. Will you go with me?"
He looked at me for a moment, studying me. Finally he nodded.
"Good boy." I said with a smile and gave him a pat on the back.
I took Roger back to my car, where Skulls was waiting impatiently. I put Roger in the back seat and closed the door.
"Christ!" Growled Skulls. "Who turns a kid?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out. Maybe he'll be able to tell me something later, once the turning is complete. He's still in the shift phase." I said, running my hand through my hair.
"Whoever it is needs to fry." Skulls hissed.
I agreed completely. Turning a child was especially cruel. When you're turned, you essentially die, so you stay physically the same as you were when it happened. For kids it means they'll never grow up. He may become more intelligent, act more like a man would, but physically he'll always be a kid. Child vampires tend to go crazy after the first half century or so if left on their own.
"I'm going back to head quarters to drop him off with Candy. Meet me at Starbucks in an hour. I could really use a cup of joe, right about now." I sighed.
Skulls chuckled loudly. "Why do you drink that stuff, man. It's not like it does you any good."
"I like the taste." I said and climbed behind the wheel.
"Whatever. See you then, Wild." Skulls laughed, backing away from the car.
We waved at each other as I sped away.
Stella:
"Now I lay you down to sleep, pray the lord your soul to keep. If you should die before you wake, pray the lord your soul to take." Whispered a wicked voice.
I blinked my eyes open. The world around my swirled at first, then slowly settled back to normal. The room I found myself in was very dark. The floor at my feet was very dirty. I looked down at my feet and I suddenly realized that I was dangling. My arms were suspended above me, secured with heavy chains wrapped around my wrists. "Oh God!" I cried, tugging at the chains with all my might. "Help!" Help me!" I screamed.
"That won't do you any good." said that same horrible voice. My eyes darted over to a rocking chair in the corner. There the man from the pool sat, rocking slowly back and forth. He held a hunting knife in one hand. An evil smile was plastered on his face. His red eyes beamed at me through the darkness.
"Please, just let me go." I begged. "I swear I won't tell anyone about this."
"Now why would I do something like that, after I've gone through all the trouble of catching you, little rabbit." He cackled.
He got up from his chair and walked up to me, still gripping his knife.
"Please." I cried. "Let me go home."
He took my face in his hands. "You are home, sweet heart." He said darkly. He tilted my head to the side and began to sniff at my neck. His knife grazed my cheek. I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing to feel the sharp pain as he slit my throat. "I've waited a long time for this." He breathed, excitedly. "I can't wait to taste your blood."
He took his knife and made a shallow cut on my neck. I yelped at the pain. He began to lap at the wound. I could hardly make sense of what he was doing. My mind was racing at a thousand miles a minute. I heard him let out a hiss and my eyes shifted to look at him out of the corner of my eye. He was grimacing, his red eyes now flaring viciously, his strangely sharp canines glimmering in the dim light. In one swift motion he had my neck in his jaws. I let out a blood curdling scream at the horrible pain as his sharp teeth pierced my flesh. I fought him at first, my legs kicking with all their might, trying to get him to set me free. I could feel a raging heat coursing through me. I felt like I was on fire. But as he drank more and more blood, I weakened. The fire was replaced by ice. My body felt frozen. I went limp, except for the shivers that racked my frame. Just when I could take no more, he stopped drinking and released me from his jaws. He stepped back and smiled at me. My blood was smeared all around his mouth and dripped from his chin.
"I was right to wait. A rich blood like yours, needs time to ripen." He huffed, breathing wildly. He took my face in his hand again and kissed my mouth roughly. "You taste even better than I dreamed." He breathed against my mouth.
He released me then and walked towards a ladder at the other side of the room. At the ladder, he looked back at me and wiped my blood off his mouth with his arm. "Sweet dreams, Stella, love." He laughed and a grin stretched across his face. "I'll see you at breakfast."
He climbed up the ladder and disappeared. Moments latter what little lighting I had went out and I was left in a world of endless darkness. That night, I hung by my chain and wept, my body quivering against the cold that surrounded me and writhed within me.
Author's Note: Wow! That was a fun chapter. I really enjoyed Wild's part. Can you tell I watch way too much crime shows? All of the vampires in this story go by their nicknames. It's pretty obvious why Wild is called that. Skulls is one of my fav characters. The origin of his nickname will be revealed later on. He's very cool though. The vampires can also eat and drink other things besides blood. It just doesn't nurish them. They mainly do it for fun. Would you like to see more of Roger later? I'm debating on whether or not I should keep him around or not. So how am I doing so far? Want more? Remember if you want the story to continue you have to review! The more reviews I get, the quicker the updates!