Why did the vampire attack the clown?
He wanted the circus to be in his blood.
The rained poured out of the sky and dripped down the back of Jack's neck, it dripped coldly from eyelashes and created a dewdrop on the end of his nose. He wiped it away, dragging his hand tiredly across his cheekbones and over his chin. The figure he crouched over grinned up at him in a parody of life, the rain gathering and balling like mercury over the grease paint.A quick visual check gave no obvious cause of death; Jack pushed the ginger wig up from the clown's forehead revealing the junction of makeup and real skin.
He touched the comm Unit in his ear, calling Owen to get a move on and give his opinion. He stood up, arching his back, to stretch out stiff muscles. Idly he watched Ianto taking photographs of the scene, Tosh scanning next to him; Jack turned his head to watch as Gwen worked the local police. She had a steaming cup in her hand. Where that had appeared from at 3am on a freezing, wet Cardiff morning Jack had no idea.
Owen jogged up, examiners bag in his hand. The odour of tequila slammers and cheap scent assailed Jack's nostrils. He wondered if his call out had interrupted Owen's plans. Well, they all had better things to do at this time of the morning than investigate the 'spooky' demise of the local party clown. Probably something of nothing, but PC Andy was developing a nose for the kind of things Torchwood was interested in, so Jack had called out the troops. Jack's eyes returned to Ianto, contemplating hot showers and how best to save on water bills. He became aware that Owen had been trying to attract his attention.
As he turned to talk to Owen he caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye. He turned back to check on it, but there was nothing there.
"Jack? You OK?"
Jack turned and nodded to Owen "Sure, what have you found?"
Owen began his report, but realised he had lost Jack's attention again.
He looked where Jack was staring. Ianto and Tosh were also staring, but in opposite directions. Owen stood up, turning in a circle to take in the sight.
Ten, no thirteen, Whiteface clowns surrounded them. White cone hats, Blank white faces with crosses for eyes, and thin red lips. Their suits were made of holographic material, with large white puffs in place of buttons. Neat white boots finished the ensemble. They were deathly quiet.
Over the shoulder of one of the clowns Owen saw Gwen drop her cup and run towards them, the other police officers standing open mouthed.
Then the clowns smiled. The smiles unsettled Owen, they were predatory and cold. Tosh and Ianto stepped towards each other back-to-back, warily watching; Jack drew his Webley.
The clowns took one step closer.
Ianto and Tosh had now drawn their weapons. Owen realised the most unsettling thing was not the silence or the smiles. It was the large canine teeth each clown was now showing.
The clowns stepped closer.
Jack was calling on them to stop, to talk to them, to negotiate.
The clowns stepped forward.
Jack gave one last warning, and then gave the order to shoot.
There was no way the team could miss at this distance. Owen braced himself for the inevitable carnage. Suddenly he was screaming and running towards the police line as he watched the bullets pass through the clowns and into the chests of the nearest coppers. Gwen had thrown herself to the ground; he did not think she was hurt.
The clowns stepped closer.
Owen realised he was on the outside of the circle; in his surprise he turned and watched for a moment. His mouth dropped open. The clowns ignored the team members, passing through them as though they did not exist. They bent down and picked up the dead clown, then the whole group gently dissipated.
Coming to himself, Owen spun round and ran to offer aid to the police who had been hit by the bullets. Thank god for stab vests. They had stopped the worst, but people were still writhing in pain.
Gwen hauled herself to her feet, eyes wide, and ran towards Jack, Ianto and Tosh. Jack and Ianto whirled round, gun barrels pointing down, but ready. Tosh was already scanning, frowning as she concentrated.
Jack and Ianto finally relaxed as Gwen reached them throwing herself at Jack. He hugged her to him, grinning and winking at Ianto over her shoulder.
*********
Finally they finished examining the scene, and sorting out the witnesses.
Jack was just about to get into the drivers seat of the SUV, when he caught a glimpse of a figure in the corner of his eye. He turned quickly. A few metres away stood a Whiteface clown. The clown solemnly lifted his index finger to his lips urging Jack to be quiet. He then lifted both his eyebrows, tilted his head back and silently laughed as his body gradually disappeared, until only the grin with its vampire teeth was left. After a few seconds this too blinked out of sight.