Chapter 8

Everyone was horrified, to hear about Lexi's attack and how it went down. What happened was that as Lexi made her way to the telephone company for work she was ambushed and forced into an alley way, all exits trapped by heavy set men, people she could usually take down if she wasn't in such delicate situation. They took her handbag off her arm, which she offered willingly for a ticket away from them but they weren't listening. They took her bag and then proceeded to give her a beating, she fought back but not enough to get away unharmed, they wanted to make sure she wouldn't talk. All their faces were hidden by fabric tied around their faces and covering their nose and mouth and they wore hoods, making it even more difficult to identify them. They left her alone after seeing that she couldn't do very much, little did her attackers know that she was trained and was very stubborn to survive, so she limped back to the house, opened the door and fell in. That was when Silas and Will got to her and helped her get better, stitching up her wounds and putting her bones in place.

Alfie went to fetch her a cup of tea after they all got a moment to mull over her words. All of The Cloaked Red was in need of a lot of tea really. Or just something positive to happen as the time in their lives so far was depressing and gloomy. He returned to find mostly everyone in the same places, not having moved very much, even the spot he was in before hadn't been taken. He handed the cup and saucer to Lexi who accepted it and gave a grateful smile.

"So, out list of things to do just increased by a mountain. Finding Nate, for Lexi and Yelena," Silas said and Yelena nodded to him. "Then to try find a cure or something that would mean a longer life for Lexi, catching Lexi's attackers and then the general Cloaked Red business of bringing criminals to justice. So we have a busy schedule for the next few months or so, I hope this is what you signed up for." Silas said this bit slightly bitter, he didn't want to lose Lexi, she was his everything but she was also always in trouble in some form or another, from the vampire stuff to Nate kidnapping their people to a random mugging on the streets. Lexi was a literal magnet for danger, for herself and not much more. She wasn't clumsy or anything, infact, Lexi was very graceful but she was also very compassionate towards other people, always putting them first. Which was why she needed Silas, he focused on her, always putting her first and foremost.

Silas then gave instructions to people to do different jobs, some would carry on with the crime fighting, some would be searching for the men who attacked Lexi, she said there were about four of them. That left two other tasks. Silas and a few of the other people got to have the vampire task but they managed to figure out that Nate was probably a 'vampire' so with the information that said lexi had to ingest some vampire blood to survive, they were on the hunt for Nate who they figured had to be one of those vampires and that would kill two birds with one stone. So far, they hadn't done very well with finding nat even though his kidnapping of Lexi was a month ago and they still didn't have a strong lead on anything related at all apart from the myths and legends that Lexi's friends had given them, even then they were still just stories that might not be true. They were all frustrated and annoyed with the unwanted results and all the dead ends they had been finding.

Silas and Lexi were still sitting on the couch by the end of Silas' instructions and Lexi's pep talk afterwards, trying to lighten the mood. They stayed there for a few more minutes, quietly with each other while the people milled about around them getting to work.

Lexi drained the rest of her tea, put the cup and saucer in front of her on the table and stood up. She held out a hand that wasn't wrapped up in bandages for Silas to take. They got off the sofa and went to check on the progress of each task. The closest was in the training room where a few of them were scanning the newspapers and any form of information on catching the criminals on the streets of London.

"Hey, guys," Mason greeted.

"Find anything?" Silas said, he was hoping for a distraction as the Nate situation and finding help for Lexi was going badly, nothing could be confirmed or denied and anything that might work could potentially hurt Lexi or kill her, and Silas wouldn't do anything that might contribute to that but leaving the situation and letting her wait it out for a few months was out of question. Silas couldn't do anything to help or just leave the situation to die out, he was stuck.

"We might have, there were reports of a murder near the Thames. The police say that there were odd markings on the vic but that might be because the police are blind and aren't very competent," Mason said shrugging.

"No, that's good," Silas said in planning mode. "We can go there later to check out the place tomorrow, half of us will go to the morgue and have a look at the body to see if there's anything and the other half can check out the crime scene and find out if there are any eye witness accounts."

"I want to go." Lexi fidgeted with her one hand on the side of her blue skirt.

"No, Lex, you can't, you've only just gotten through a mugging and they left you for dead on the street," Silas countered.

"I can handle this, and I won't have to do anything heavy but I want to help," she said. They argued for a few minutes as Mason was rifling through the documents and then Silas finally relented.

"Fine, go. But you're not going near the crime scene, just to the morgue where it's safe and no bodies can hurt you."

"I know, thank you, dear," Lexi said and she pecked Silas' cheek before going to the kitchens.

The next day they were leaving Alfie's larger car that could hold up to 6 people and it only took a short drive but Will was coming and he was using his prosthetic and had his medical bag, and they had various bit of equipment that they brought along just in case anything were to happen.

Alfie pulled up two streets away from the intended location after dropping off Lexi, Will and Henry at the front of the morgue, armed with fake identities and guns hidden in their clothing to safeguard them, Will was wearing the prosthetic that had lots of secret pockets, great for storing blades or small pistols.

Alfie, Silas and Mason got out of the car and made their way to the crime scene, all of them being vigilant about their surroundings. There were children playing outside of a house, the elderly taking walks and the majority of men at work while the woman stayed at home looking after the houses and children.

By the time they arrived they area where the crime had happened was cleared up to be a regular street again, making it incredibly difficult for them to gather any information on the murder. The trio were annoyed at the police's competency, that they got rid of what might have been evidence or clues that might lead them to the murder. It might have also not been a murder, it could have been an accident but without the crime scene left as it was, they didn't have a good chance at finding anything.

Back at the morgue Lexi had showed the person at the front desk their badges and fake documents allowing them access to the body and one the staff lead them down some corridors before opening a door letting the three of them in. The man lifted the sheet to show the face of the victim, the three cringed away a little when seeing the state of his neck.

"No so sure why you're interested in this one. Came in two days ago and seems like a normal kill. John Smith, here, he didn't have anything to show who he is so probably means he got on the wrong side of a fight or something," the man said.

"Yes, thank you for your input," Henry said, impatiently, not trusting anyone but the people he lived with.

"Murder should never be 'normal'," Lexi chimed in.

"I will leave you to it then," the man turned his nose and almost stomped out the door.

Will rolled his eyes. He picked up one of the metal tools on the side and pushed it around in the deceased man's neck.

Henry looked on warily and slightly green before turning his head away, "You know, I've dealt with some crap in my time by this is just gross."

Lexi patted his arm and turned her back on the body to join Henry in looking away, leaving Will to do his job. Lexi and Henry heard squishing sounds and other noises which made them move a few steps further from the table the victim was on. Will continued for a while longer before announcing he was finished with the corpse.

"Oh, thank God you are finally done," Henry said relieved. Will pulled the white sheet over the victim's head and shoulders once more and leaned away from the table.

Lexi looped her arm though Will's and they walked out of the door with Henry in front of them, for risk assessment obviously. Lexi and Henry flashed smiles at the guys at the desk before leaving while Will looked grumpy and limped hazardously with Lexi still at his side walking along with him. By the time they had reached outside of the building they saw Silas, Mason and Alfie casually leaning against the hood of the car. Silas pushed off the car and smiled, going to Lexi who helped Will to the door of the car.

"Get anything?" Silas asked.

She laughed lightly and said, "You should ask Will. He knows everything, Henry and I couldn't bare to watch. Urgh."

Silas chuckled and they got into the car with the other four for the ride home. On the drive Will gave his report of the John Smith's cause of death.

"It looked like his throat was torn apart and I'm sure all of you know by what. Anyway, I could barely find any teeth or fang marks but they were there. The men working at the morgue didn't even try to clean off the dried blood so I had to do it just to get a clearer examination. I also noticed that most of his blood had been drained, leaving just about a pint in him," Will said, slowly going through each point with the 5 other people in the small space of the car. Although Lexi was there for the job she was still surprised with the information that Will gave sombrely.

"What about the markings the police reported?" Silas asked. Will shook his head and said, "No, it was just those idiots' mistake. There wasn't any markings on his body, just the torn neck."

"Okay but you think it might have been a vampire?" Henry asked, he didn't think Will was lying but he just wanted to confirm it.

"Yeah, as far as I could tell."

"So now we've got a crazy rabid vampire on the loose. Great," Henry said.

"Don't be like that, if we don't do it then lots of people will be hurt," Lexi chidded.

"I know, I know. Just would appreciate it if we had a few days off every now and then when we can all be peaceful and quiet without having to chase after some maniac or serial killer," Henry said.

"Yup, agree to that," Alfie said in the driver's seat nodding.

They quickly arrived home again and the house was mainly empty, with everyone at work or out doing other tasks for The Cloaked Red. However, soon enough people started coming home and when the whole household was present Will and Alfie repeated their findings to everyone else. Tony was also annoyed about the new player in town, taking more lives of the innocent, but half way through the talk the telephone in the training room started to ring. Will and Alfie abruptly stopped their explanation and looked to Silas.

"You expecting anything?" Alfie asked. Silas shook his head but went over to the telephone anyway.

"Hello, who is this?" Silas asked cautiously.

"Hi, is this Rosso residence?" the man asked.

Silas looked to Lexi and mouthed 'Rosso' and she nodded in confirmation, "Yes, that's us," Silas replied.

"Good, well a woman and her two male friends came in earlier and left a number to call if we identified the body they were examining. Turns out the guy is Xavier Sommers, had been sentenced to life in prison for murdering women he picked up from the streets, now dead. Probably best for the city," the man on the other side of the telephone said.

"Thank you for calling us, have a nice day," Silas said automatically and then hung up on him. He relayed the information to the rest of the people in the room.

"Wait, so the vampire who killed Sommers was doing everyone a favour?" Tony asked incredulous

Most of them looked uncomfortable, and Jenny said, "Uh, looks like it and now we've got a vampire doing our job but without the restraint we have over not killing everyone we come across." At this Jenny gave a pointed look at Silas, remembering a few weeks ago when Silas shot the man in the head after infiltrating the warehouse. Silas rolled his eyes at her.

"But killing Sommers might have been just a coincidence and he really is just another crazed vampire," Mallory said, being vigilant.

"You're right, which is why you and someone else," Mallory groaned, "are going to look through past cases and deaths that are similar to Sommer's and see if you can find a pattern. If this vampire is really murdering for fun then we have to take him out but if it's to keep innocent people safe and away from the dangerous ones then we can try to persuade them to try to bring justice instead of death," Silas said, going over some of the possibilities.

Mallory had her shoulder slumped and pushed through the people towards the doors trudging her way, dragging Yelena by the sleeve of her jumper. Yelena smiled brightly at everyone, giving a small wave. "See ya," she called.

"I shudder to think about what they're going to be doing," Jenny commented. Tony let out a bark of laughter.

Lexi dimpled and said, "All right kids, settle down. We've still got to deal with other problems."

A week later they finally had a lead. Not much of one but it fitted the profile of the vampire they had been looking for.

"Mal, I think I've got something. Says here that a man was killed, Victor Strong, he was found abusing women and children but get this, he was found dead on the street with a torn out throat and over half of his blood missing," Yelena began, "but that was over 60 years ago, and the man that murdered Strong was caught a few months later. And guess what? The man they caught went missing 2 years after being locked up and during that time the suicide rates in that specific prison increased by 30%."

"So if he is the vamp we've been looking for then it would explain how he is still around 60 years later, committing almost the same killing. Or it could be a very good copy cat," Mallory was running through ideas and one of the strongest possibilities was that the whole thing was a person who found out about the case and decided it would be a good idea to copy him for a cover story.

"We have to tell Silas and the others what we've found," Yelena said gathering up the respective papers into her arms, there were only a few but the content included evidence that would be relevant.

Mallory quickly put the files and documents back into the boxes and hurried after Yelena who was half way down the hall already. Yelena checked the rooms as she rushed passed and soon found Silas and Lexi having dinner at the kitchen table, she swung open the large door with Mallory right behind her, worried about her condition. Getting kidnapped by the lunatic that made Lexi ill made Mallory anxious about Yelena, getting kidnapped or harmed by anyone really. Which was a small problem seeing as The Cloaked Red's agenda was primarily hunting and catching criminals but now there was even more danger with the newly introduced vampires.

"Hey, how's the work going?" Lexi asked, munching on some carrots.

Yelena was half panting, out of breath from finding the couple, "We've got something. The vampire we are after might have a pattern. It looks like he committed a murder like Sommers' about 60 years ago but he was caught and imprisoned. Then he escaped and if he is a vampire it would explain the long lifetime because a man at his age if he got out of prison he would be almost 80 year old, too old to have enough strength to murder again."

Lexi and Silas at there taking in what she said and Mallory elbowed Yelena in the arm slightly, "Oh and Mallory thinks that our killer might be a copycat, a man or vampire we don't know." Yelena rolled her eyes.

"Ah, well," Silas was looking intrigued and wary of the news given to him, "Now that we know we might be on the right track about a vampire being the killer, we need a plan to find him. Wait, did he have a name?"

"Well.. Yeah, but the only name he left for the court was 'Oberon Balthasar'. Not that any of them dimwits got that reference but I suspect he probably leaves fake names and aliases a lot, so that the authorities can't find him. With some fake hair and some clever disguise the police think he is a completely different person," Yelena said, she was glad they had something on him but that didn't make searching for him any easier.

Mallory and Yelena were sat down at this point and Lexi rose to get the other women a potion of food but as she pushed off the table with one hand, she swayed faintly. Silas' arm shot out at her waist to steady her, he got up from the chair and put his other hand on her shoulder. Mallory and Yelena had worried expressions on their faces.

"Lexi?" Silas asked. She had a slightly dazed look and she shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. Simply stood up too fast," she said reassuring him. He didn't believe her but he let it pass as they had an audience, Mallory and Yelena seemed to be concerned as well but kept quiet, they finished up and left so that Lexi and Silas could have some private time without anyone intruding.

They left for their room, tired and still pondering vaguely about the day's revelations and what would then happen.

In the kitchen, Silas was helping clear away the dishes as Lexi sat at the table with her hand to her head.

"Are you sure you are all right?" Silas asked for the billionth time.

"Yes, dear. It is only a small headache, I can manage," she said, Silas still not believing her, but he put a warm mug of her favourite tea in front of her on the hard wooden table. She gave him a grateful smile and took a sip, "Thank you."

The rest of the night was uneventful, they went to bed, slept.

And woke up to another murder by their vampire killer.