CHAPTER FOUR
I returned home in need of feeding. Of blood this time, not food. I called Courtney to see if she could come over. I found out she was still at work. That left me calling Mark. I was too weak to wait for her to get off. While I waited, Sadie sat next to me whining because she knew something was wrong. I patted her head and let her lay down across my lap.
It didn’t take long for Mark to get here as he lives just next door to me. So when he knocked on the door and walked in, I was ready for him. Courtney and Mark liked to clean their necks before I bite them. I couldn’t seem to convince them my saliva has a type of cleaning effect. They always tell me I don’t need to bite a dirty neck. Just like them, always protecting me.
“Hey, Shawn, you look like shit. Why didn’t you feed before you went to work this morning?” Mark, along with Courtney, has been my best friend since kindergarten. Standing at 5’11” and weighing around 180 pounds with brown hair and light blue eyes, we were always mistaken as brothers. He and Courtney were the only ones I knew I could trust with the truth about my change.
“Today has been a bitch. I got called in early and didn’t have a chance to feed. I’m feeling it now.” In response, Mark cleaned his neck and leaned back on the couch for me.
I had to feed for longer than normal, which made Mark weaker than normal. I helped him lay back on the couch and went to get him something to eat. It doesn’t help much but it does help. And to return the favor they do for me, I always have what they want in the house. Mark is a hotdog freak. So, I got him a couple of hotdogs and a Mountain Dew. Which he ate slowly to make sure it stayed down.
When he got most of his strength back and was able to focus over the dizziness, we went to the gym to play some one on one basketball. The game lasted for about two hours. Every time one of us got ahead and we were about to stop playing, the one behind wanted a rematch. So in reality, it was more like four games we played. When we were finally too tired to rematch, I was able to talk about the events of the day.
“I heard about the first one on the news this morning. I didn’t know there was a second one. Do they look like the work of the same person?” Mark asked as he used a towel to wipe away some of the sweat.
“Yeah, it’s the same person. But there is something funny about the bite marks on the first victim. I got a few pictures of them to look at later, but I’m not sure what it is I am looking for. Want to check them out with me?”
“Sure, I’ll look at them. See if I can help.” Mark is an attorney. He has good eyes when it comes to evidence. Courtney is just as good at it as he is. Both of them work for the same firm and are considered the top attorneys there.
By the time we got back to my house, Courtney was there wondering where I was this morning and if I had fed yet. She may not be my girlfriend but she cares about me like she is. Compared to Mark and me, she is kind of short at 5’5”. She has a great figure and weighs about 120 pounds (again, just guess). Strawberry blonde hair frames her face and her hazel eyes are enough to light up any dull room. And judging by the black tailored suite and black heals she was wearing; she hadn’t taken the time to go home and change before coming over. They never treated me differently after my change. True friends and I owe them a lot.
After getting the standard lecture from Courtney about not calling her over when I had to leave early this morning, we headed into the house to fill her in on what we were talking about. I had to go back out to the car to get the pictures so we could look at them.
“Shawn, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be with this. I haven’t looked at your marks on Mark to see what they look like.” Courtney commented as she was looking at the picture.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the marks on Courtney either. These look like bites from a dog to me.” Mark was a little upset by the fact neither he nor Courtney were able to help. “I just never thought about looking at them.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it. I’ll figure it out. I just….” My words were interrupted by Sadie. She was staring out the back window barking like crazy.
I got up and walked over to her. “What’s wrong girl?”
Looking out the window I noticed there was a shadow of a person standing just on the edge of the woods. I hurried to my room and grabbed my badge and gun. On the way back by I told Mark and Courtney to stay inside and to listen out for me. If I needed help they were to dial 911 and lock the doors.
I went out through the front door so I could use the cover of the house to keep something between me and whoever was out there. I could still hear Sadie inside barking but now she was whining as well. She wasn’t happy that I had left her behind.
I came around to the back of the house opposite of the side where I had seen the shadow. The darkness didn’t hamper my eye sight. That’s something else that is true. The darkness is just as easy for me to see in as the light is. Peeking around the house to the spot where I had seen the shadow, I found it was no longer there. I also noticed Sadie was no longer barking. She was just whining now. I crept around to the back, keeping to the shadows. I had left the back light off for this reason. There was no sign of the showed but I heard the footsteps of whoever this was running away. The wind shifted and blew across me. There was a familiar scent in the air. I stood confused for a moment, trying to figure out why that scent was familiar, before I snapped out of it and began approaching the woods. After I was sure the intruder was gone, I turned back to the house.
I went back into the house only to be knocked over by my over anxious protector. When I was finally able to push her off of me, I looked up to notice Mark and Courtney looked scared.
“Relax, you two. Whoever it was ran off.” I got up off the floor and patted Sadie on the head to reassure her I was okay.
“Did you see the person or just hear them?” Courtney was standing ready with the phone in her hand.
“Both, kind of, I could see their shadow from your security light in the back and heard them running. They were going away from me, back into the woods. Chances are it was just some junkie looking to break in and steal something so they could get their fix. I’ll go over to your place with you just in case. If someone is there that shouldn’t be or has been there I’ll know it before we get to the door.”
“Thanks Shawn! I hadn’t thought of that. Talk about knowing how to scare someone.” Courtney looked like she was about to slap me for that one.
About thirty minutes later I followed them in my car, back to their place. Sadie was with me too. What I haven’t mentioned about her is that as a favor to me, one of the K-9 trainers trained her as a police dog. She is well trained and if the need is there, she will help me. I really didn’t believe this person had gone to Mark and Courtney’s place and after pulling into their drive and getting out, I confirmed my thoughts. The only scents coming from their home were their own. The only sound was their little Chihuahua, Nacho, barking out his greeting. To provide extra comfort to Courtney, I walked around their home, inside and out looking, smelling, and listening for anything that shouldn’t be there. After reassuring her there was nothing amiss around or in their home, I said goodnight and Sadie and I headed home.
Later that night I got a call from Officer Blake, one of the nightshift officers.
“Hey boss, Sheriff Anderson said to call you and Lieutenant Davis in on this one. We have another murder victim like the others.”
“Shit. Okay, I’ll go get Davis and be there in forty-five minutes.”
I called Davis to break the news to him. He was just as happy about it as I was.
Just as I had told Blake, forty-five minutes later, Davis and I were pulling in to the parking lot of one of the gas stations that stays open late to check out the scene. It’s a small station, only two pumps. Inside you can pick up drinks, snacks, cigarettes and lotto tickets. You can also waste your money playing the “sweepstakes” games they have. It’s the only legal way in this county to have poker machines. To the right of the building, the dumpster sat behind a woo
den fence. Behind the building were woods. Something I have noticed could be found at all of the crime scenes.
It was just like the other two, another female victim with two puncture wounds on the left side of her neck. She was also on her back with her head turned to the right. Blood trailed down her neck and stopped just short of the collar of her blue shirt. Her blue jeans led down to a pair of white tennis shoes.
She was caught off guard when she was closing the store. However, this time I was able to identify what was strange about the puncture holes. They had tears on the top of each one. Vamp bites are smooth and straight in. On top of that, there was a scent I know I knew, I just couldn’t figure it out, and had also smelled it at the other two scenes. It was also the scent that was in my back yard earlier.
“Okay. I have noticed all three of the women are blonde. They are also about the same weight, height and age. What else do we know about them?” Davis was pondering this when the CSI team got there. Lucky for me, Amy (or whatever her name is) was one of the first ones there. Her appearance stopped my thoughts on why this scent was at my home.
“You guys find anything?” Amy asked demandingly.
“Shouldn’t we be asking you that question? You’re the ones hired to gather evidence, aren’t you?” The sharp look from Davis stopped me from saying more. I just walked away and once again let him deal with it.