Chapter Two: Supernatural Encounter

"Four dead bodies were sprawled out on the floor, and their necks were ripped open like the half-eaten mice that led me there in the first place. Who… or whatever did this was very strong and very fast. There must have been at least a hundred shell casings on the ground near the bodies and there was no sign of what they were trying to hit. I noticed one of them was a cop because their GCPD badge was lodged into their eye socket.

I studied the angles and patterns in which the bullets had been sprayed across the room. The approach by the killer must've been perfect and seamless; not a single hit. However, I did finally notice a bit of blood near the entrance. I thought perhaps one of the gunmen was able to get a lucky shot off before their unsettling demise. It was the only clue I could follow… and so I did.

I first gathered a sample of the blood droplets near the door, and then followed the trail. I had a feeling it would lead me back into Gotham Park… and sure enough, I was right.

After the trail faded, I began looking, and listening, for other ways to try and track him; footprints; bushes rustling; birds flying off; moving shadows. I knew I had to be close to them, but this guy was very good at avoiding any detection, almost as if he was just floating along.

Since I couldn't pick up a trail, I decided to go back to the place where all the clues started… the sewers.

I headed straight for the same tunnel with the half-eaten mice. Although, I knew a shortcut that the perpetrator probably didn't know about. When I did, that's when I finally caught a glimpse of who, or what, I was looking for just as the shadowy lurch entered the sewer tunnel. I figured he was going in to check on the hidden corpse he placed there.

Since I knew where the burial was at, I decided to follow far enough behind, waiting for him to turn one corner before I entered the same tunnel he was just in, so that I wouldn't be detected myself.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened. He stopped and started sniffing around as if he was some sort of a hound dog. I wasn't sure why he was doing that. And I certainly wasn't ready for what I heard next…

"Bruce Wayne?" He whispered. Despite his quiet English tone, the words continued to echo off the sewer walls in a mystic way.

I was in shock. "How could he know who I am? Could he actually smell me?" I thought to myself. If he did have a greater sense of smell, that must've meant he had come into contact with Bruce Wayne at some point before now, but not Batman.

"Bruce Wayne… Why are you following me?" His whispery voice continued to echo all around.

I stayed back. The more he spoke, the more I could understand what he was capable of doing. Then, I was amazed again when he said, "So… Bruce Wayne is the Bat of Gotham."

It should have been impossible for him to know that. I wasn't anywhere within his sight. That's when I realized he must have some kind of sonar capabilities. Which meant, the more he talked, the more his vocal vibrations could give him an outline of my shape. I had never heard of such supernatural capabilities; quick; strong; higher senses; ritualistic; and a taste for blood.

I wasn't quite sure how to approach him. If I backed away, he would surely be able to use his sonar and sense of smell to track me down. I was going to have to take him head on.

I ran full speed around the corner, hoping to land a powerful punch on the side of his jaw. Even the biggest and strongest men would go down with a punch like that. However, as I leapt into the air, he was easily able to sidestep my punch, causing me to completely miss. I could tell his eyes were laser focused on my fist as I flew right by him.

"You still haven't answered my question. Why are you following me?" He asked again.

"You just killed four men. AND ONE OF THEM WAS A POLICE OFFICER!"

"Ah, yes… I thought I smelled a bit of their stench on you... (Sniff) (Sniff)… and a sample of my blood as well."

"You're going to jail!" I then made it seem as if I was going to come at him again with the same punch, but instead I came around with a reverse kick. However, just like my last attempt, he easily sidestepped out of the way again. "Why did you kill those men?" I demanded to know.

"Simple… because they deserved it."

"Why!?"

"You already know that answer. Ask me something you don't know."

"Why were you hiding a rotting corpse down in the sewer!?… And why all the voodoo shit!?"

(Sniff) (Sniff) "You found him. I certainly hope you didn't move the sarcophagus away from the circle."

"I buried it six feet below your circle!"

"Ah… that explains the bit of lime I smell."

"Who was it? And why did you kill them?"

"Your mere mortal mind couldn't handle the truth!"

"TRY ME!"

"His name is Vlad Dracula. He is the oldest living vampire."

"IS? He was burned to a crisp… Don't you mean, WAS?"

"Oh no… he still most certainly… IS."

I began thinking back about the regenerated skin cells, sharp teeth, and the even sharper fingernails that cut into my hand. From the slight grin on his face, it almost seemed as if he knew exactly what I was thinking about. But still, I didn't believe him. It just seemed too impossible. He was right, I just couldn't fathom it, so he continued to explain.

"He was burnt because of the sunlight." I trapped him there, in the sarcophagus, so that the sunlight could continue hitting him everyday, returning his healing body back to ashes. And he couldn't escape as long as nobody moved him."

"Seems a bit harsh." I stated. "And what would happen if a pile of ashes managed to escape?"

"Then, you are going to have more problems on your hands than a few dead criminals."

"Like I said before... he's still buried six feet deep below the self-made ritual area you concocted."

"Then I suggest we go dig him back up and make sure nothing has happened to him since then."

"Who the hell are you, anyways?"

"My name is… Renfield… ex-servant of Count Dracula."

My first thought was, "This guy is a loon." But I also realized he wasn't trying to harm me. Therefore, I decided to go along with his story. It gave me more time to investigate him and the corpse a little further.

I followed behind him as we approached the hidden sanctuary he had created. Since I knew he had been shot back at the drug-house, I was searching for any noticeable injuries, but he seemed to be just fine. I then thought that maybe it must have only been a flesh wound. However, upon looking more closely, I noticed that there was a bullet hole in the side of his shirt, just below the ribs. I didn't understand how he was even walking. A shot like that should have done quite a bit of damage. Yet, here he was, moving around as if nothing ever happened.

After entering the self-made sanctuary, I grabbed the shovel and started digging.

(Sniff) (Sniff) Renfield stuck out his nose again. "Something is wrong!" he anxiously stated. He then dropped down on his knees and began clawing up the dirt with his bare hands.

Within seconds, he managed to dig all the way down to the bottom, tossing dirt behind him as if he was a dog trying to retrieve his bone.

"He's gone!" Renfield blurted. He quickly crawled out of the hole and then climbed the mud formed wall until he was at the ceiling structure with the holes in it.

He began sniffing again. "They must have come for him!"

"Who!?" I asked.

"Wolves… his children," he answered.

I began looking around at the grave site. It didn't look as if it had been tampered with. "Nobody has been in this room besides us since I left."

He then became very angry and proceeded to bust a hole in the make-shift ceiling structure, causing debris and rubble to fall down.

Then, he crawled up to the surface and began looking around. I tried making my way out as quickly as possible, though I wasn't quite able to climb as fast as he was able to.

After making it to the surface, I noticed him studying the ground. It looked as if two holes had been dug at an angle which would have led straight to the burial site. That didn't seem possible to me. Renfield said wolves came and got him, but they would have had to dig nearly sixty feet at that angle in order to reach the corpse.

"How could wolves possibly dig down that far?" I asked.

"The wolves were probably tired after digging five feet. Dracula willed them to keep digging further. We will no doubt find the wolves dead somewhere."

…And he was right. Within a half a mile of searching, we found two gray wolves lying dead in a wooded area. The sarcophagus was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a bird landed on a branch which was close to us. Renfield stuck out his hand and slowly approached it. And then-

SNATCH! He swiped the bird from out of the tree and bit directly down into the bird's stomach. I could hear the crunching sound in his mouth.

"Why do you eat birds and mice?"

"Insects." He replied. "Mice and birds mostly eat insects. I eat the insects right out of their stomachs." He informed me, spitting out the remains.

"But, why?"

"Life… The insects shall bring me a glorious everlasting life."

Then, Renfield noticed the blood on my glove. "How did you get that injury?"

"The sharp fingernails of the corpse cut me." I answered.

"That is how he managed to summon his hellhounds. He used the power of your blood. You never should have touched the body! And now the future of his bloodshed will be on your hands!"

He then tried to walk away as if he wanted nothing else to do with me. I wasn't going to let him go so easily.

"You murdered four people in cold blood! You need to go to jail! Or better yet… Arkham Asylum!" I spouted, causing him to stop and turn around.

"I know your true identity… Bruce Wayne. Surely you don't want me going to jail."

"I don't care what you know! I will do whatever it takes to keep you from killing again!"

"I will leave your city once I have found the nine men I have come looking for. After that, you can have your city back."

"What nine men?"

"You're the detective… I'm sure you will figure it out. Besides… I have no quarrel with you."

I then readied myself into a fighting stance. "I'm not going to let you kill anyone else!"

"You don't have much choice in the matter. But, if it's a fight you want… I will be happy to oblige."

He was a quick opponent, so I knew I would have to resort to using the tools I had that were just as quick. That's when I pulled out my Bat-boa, and then threw it, wrapping it around his arms and waist area. But… in some sort of a ballerina twirl, he managed to unravel it rather quickly. I then shot out my grappling hook, attempting to wrap it around his feet, but instead, he managed to simply jump over it as if he was playing jump-rope.

I shot out another weapon, this time using a CO2 arrow launcher from off my forearm. The arrow had a test-line connected to it, so that I could use it to retract the enemy after embedding it into their shoulder area. That time, Renfield wasn't able to dodge out of the way, and the arrow hit perfectly above the right side of his chest. I then tried to retract it. That's when I realized that Renfield purposely didn't dodge out of the way because he wanted it to hit him. Just then, he grabbed hold of the test-line, and proceeded to quickly pull me in closer to him. I tried swinging a punch since I was already being pulled in that trajectory, but he managed to grab hold of my hand at the last second and then belted me with a back-fist, causing me to fly several feet backwards, landing on my back.

Before I could even stand he was already up on me, grabbing me by my neck, and lifting me as high into the air as he could. I could feel all of my air circulation getting completely cut off.

But… Just then, he paused. His face grew of a great concern, almost as if he was having a revelation. Suddenly, at that moment, I could almost sense him trying to wander through my mind. He began twitching slightly, rummaging back to the moment my parents were murdered. And then, just like that… he let me go.

"Dracula is coming!" He began shouting several times. "The Evil One will drink the blood of every last one of you!"

He had completely lost his mind. However, he was no longer putting up any more resistance, allowing me to completely tie his hands and feet together. I wasn't sure what to make of the whole ordeal. The only thing I did know was… this guy needs to be in a high security facility like Arkham.

Minutes later… Gordon managed to make it to the scene. Renfield seemed to struggle a little bit, still rambling about Dracula's return, but other than that, Gordon seemed to have everything under control. Despite Renfield surrendering, I still thought it would be safer for Gordon's men if I tagged along… especially knowing what Renfield was capable of. I knew I could later follow up on the strange murders and try to figure out what Renfield meant by, "finding the nine men."