Chapter IV

Baffled, I opened my eyes and looked around. A normal street, nothing special. Why did Derrick meet up with that person? And why didn’t they have a scent?

Sadly I couldn’t keep investigating, because the sun was rising and I had to go back to the station as soon as possible.

I turned to the fullblood only to find out he was already gone, there were no traces of him. As if he disappeared in thin air. Well, I didn’t care much, I had other things on my mind.

Reaching the station, I saw that the window was still open and jumped inside. The vampire from cell 3 was sitting on a chair reading a book, and from the cross on the cover, it was the bible. Where did he get that from?

He looked up to me. With a wide grin, he said: “Hello there. How was the trip? It was boring as hell here, that’s why I grabbed this. I thought it was something spiritual, but more people die in here, then on one of my family reunion.

”He then put the book to the side and walked towards me. He was a bizarre creature, but somehow amusing. I pulled out the tracker from my pocket and showed it to him. “I found Derricks tracker.”

He suddenly made a weird facial expression. As if he was confused. I slowly took it out of my hand and said: “This doesn’t make sense.” As if he was talking to himself.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did he rip it off, if he could have just escaped by night?” he explained while taking a closer look at the tracker.

“Maybe he didn’t think it through and just acted on instincts” I said, hoping to find out more about Derrick.

“Derrick would never do something without thinking it through. You were never outside with us, that’s why you don’t know him like I know him. He often talked about his plan. He wanted to do it on the night of the day he had to go on patrol, so that it would take them longer to figure out he was gone. He had a plan. This…” He lifted the tracker and looked at me with big eyes. “This isn’t the Derrick that I know.” So my gut feeling was correct, this wasn’t normal. But what was that all about? Why did he suddenly change plans?

The vampire flinched and looked to the door. He then said: “I hear how the boss’s car is coming closer, we should head back into our cells.”

I agreed and we rushed to our prisons.

I patiently waited to be called, but it only happened in the late afternoon. It knocked and I opened the door. The devil was standing in front of me and asked my to step outside. I wasn’t the only one to be called outside, the vampire from cell 3 was also standing outside. He looked different then from the previous night. He looked cold, emotionally restrained.

The devil started to speak.

“Today was a stressful day for all of us, that’s why I don’t want any objections or complaints, are we clear?”

We nodded and he continued.

“They found a corpse that fits the description of our missing vampire. But since he has been found without fangs, you have to go to the morgue to identify the body.

”My heart stopped beating and my eyes went to the other vampire. I saw how his eyes filled with shock and tears. He painfully fought against them and stared in front of him, while biting his lip. It hurt, but I also felt anger. I should have looked better, then maybe he would have been alive now.

“There is a car outside waiting for you.” Those were the only instructions that the devil gave to us.

We walked outside and there was a patrol car, in which we got on silently. The vampire was sitting close to the window and staring out of it. I could feel his pain, but I didn’t know how I should help him, that’s why I said nothing. The drive was unbearably quiet, only my mind was loud and overwhelmed me with thoughts.

We stopped in front of an elegant hospital. It wasn’t high, but wide, maybe so that patient didn’t have to walk that many stairs. It was completely white. Over the entrance was written in big and red letters: “Hospital”, so that everyone could read it. We got off and followed the police officer, but stopped in front of the door. He turned to us and started to rush us.

“We don’t have all the time in the world. Move your ass”

“You have to-“

“Instead of opening your fucking mouth, how about you try using that bird brain of yours to invite us in, you fucking asshole.”

Completely shocked, I looked to the vampire who had just spoken those words, and then to the officer. They were boiling with anger. If it hadn’t been for the people that were staring at us, surprised, and some nurses that were standing there, worried, then these two would have been at each other’s throat by now. What happened instead was the police officer walking towards us to the say through gritted teeth: “Come in”

We went inside.

We followed a scared nurse that led us down some stairs to then stop in front of a door. “Come on in” she whispered and opened for us.

The morgue stank.

I smelled disinfectant, mixed with a small hint of death. The vampire next to me, moved sticking very close to me. The wall was filled with drawers. To know that there were various dead people lying in this wall was scary.

The door behind us opened and this annoying smell of burning filled my nose.

“Sorry for the wait” he said while walking past us. However, I was shocked to recognize that it wasn’t the fullblood, but a young man, with red locks and an undercut that uncovered his freckle filled nape. He was wearing a long white coat and walked directly to the drawers. He opened one, pulled out the dead, only to then laugh nervously, push him back in and walk to the next drawer. I didn’t know a lot about all this stuff, but I had this feeling that he didn’t have an absolute clue.

“Here he is” he said and smiled. A pair of shiny braces embraced his white teeth. Even his face was filled with freckles and his green eyes were beaming with happiness. Why the hell did he smell like the fullblood?

“If you could please come closer. I would ask you now to identify the corpse.” He said professionally, and we stepped closer. He uncovered the corpse. I looked directly into Derrick’s peaceful face. The vampire next to me didn’t dare to look. He went behind me to put his forehead onto my shoulder. “Is it him?” he whispered to me.

I confirmed. It was Derrick. The deceased was really Derrick.

The vampire behind risked a look.

“But it can’t be. It just doesn’t make sense” There was anger in his voice. I couldn’t disagree, There was a dead vampire, but it wasn’t through decapitation.

My eyes found the “doctor” as I asked him: “What was the cause of his death?”

He looked shocked, as if I had just caught him red-handed. He opened his mouth and started to stutter: “Well, the cause, well, let me think…” Without giving him the time to think, I frowned and said: “You’re not a doctor, right?”

He looked upset as he told me: “I am a doctor! I graduated from…” He started to think. His confidence was gone when he said: “I graduated from doctor school.”

He was no doctor, no way in hell.

He started to cover Derrick again, but I grabbed his arm to keep him still. “What are you going to do to him?” I asked him menacingly. I felt sorry for him because he looked very frightened, but I didn’t budge. As he wasn’t answering, I reached over the drawer to grab his collar. I pulled him closer to me.

“Tell me, or you’re going to lay in one of these drawers”

He paled, but shook his head. Well, then I’d have to play rough. I pushed him, walked around Derrick, directly towards the wannabe doctor. He was taking several steps back, there was terror written all over his face. I didn’t say anything and just pushed him into the wall.

“Talk” I ordered him as soon as his back hit the wall, but he pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. Why did he have to push me this far? The moment I wanted to slam my fist into his face, the vampire called me.

“Thana, come take a look at this.”

I thought it over, and decided to let go of the doctor. I walked back to Derrick. The vampire pointed at Derrick’s chest. Something was carved into it, but I couldn’t understand what it meant. ”’Matthew 6:14’ what does that mean?” I asked, but the vampire shrugged. Something else, something unimportant, caught my attention.

“Why do you know my name?”

The vampire answered silently: “My hearing is very good.” Then he outstretched his hand towards me and said: “Kalma. Nice to meet you.” I looked at him, baffled, but I shook his hand.

“You already know my name.”

He smiled sweetly, until an insecure voice interrupted us. “I’m sorry, but you should leave as soon as you’re done.” I frowned and gave the young man an angry stare. “We are going nowhere.” He sighed, looking rather anxious. Something was off, and until I found out what, I wouldn’t budge.

“Listen, you just needed to identify the body, that’s all.” He explained, but there was more. “And what happens after?” I asked, but he couldn’t give me an answer. Meanwhile, Kalma was examining the corpse.

The doctor didn’t like that, he wanted to go in-between, but I stepped in front of him.

“Please leave!” Now his voice sounded pleading, but not once I thought of feeling bad for him. I elongated my nails and held them against his throat.

“His teeth were operated out, not pulled. Whoever did it, knew what he was doing.” Kalma said suddenly. This was getting even stranger.

Kalma came to me and said worriedly: “Someone is coming, and that someone is pissed.” I ignored it and kept my nails on the throat of the doctor. “Let them come, maybe they will give us answers.” I stepped closer and the tips of my nails softly touched the tender skin of the doctor’s throat, who was pissing his pants. As soon as I finished my sentence, the door swung open, but I didn’t flinch.

The smell that entered was the same as the doctor. Burned. As soon as he spoke, I recognized the voice immediately

“Touch a single hair, e ti faccio a pezzi.”