The Vampire's Treaty

by Matt Shaw

  “No! You’ve got it wrong!” lisped Van Helsing who was still struggling with his newfound fangs. Before the crowd could get any further (for he knew he wouldn’t be able to fight everyone off before one of them could get to him) he leapt clean over their heads and, like a fly, stuck to the ceiling above them. The audience stopped down and, in unison, turned their heads skywards to keep their beady little eyes on him, incase he was going for a sneak attack.

  “Listen to me,” said Van Helsing as he struggled to get his ‘normal’ face to return, “it’s not what you think – this happened to me when I was in the future… Judge Reiger did this to me!”

  “He’s not a vampire!” shouted a young man.

  “In the future he is! In the future he is a vampire and in the future he does this to me! I told him, we could put everything right but he wouldn’t listen because he fell in love with his power…”

  A voice muttered, “Well that does sound like Judge Reiger.”

  “And I’m telling you now,” continued Van Helsing, “we can still put this right, it’s not too late. We just need to find the real killer!” Van Helsing fumbled around in his suit jacket and pulled out the piano-tuner that he had taken from Jack’s bed and breakfast. “This is what made it look like a vampire kill! Look!” Van Helsing dropped the tuning fork to the floor and an elderly man picked it up.

  “A tuning fork?” said the elderly man (because he was very smart).

  “Think about it, people, that’s why Herr Monika was murdered. The killer stole one of his tuning forks. All he had to do then was to sharpen the tips into points. With the vampires being framed he could go around killing people in the shadows without fear of being caught. Even The Count hadn’t noticed him but he knew a stranger was in town doing this…”

  “So why kill Jeremiah Simpkins? Why kill Mrs. Rouble?” asked a genuinely inquisitive little character from the floor.

  “The killer; his name is Jack and he runs a failing bed and breakfast establishment in a neighbouring town. Before the Peace Treaty was written up Jack and his wife were doing well but then, when the Peace Treaty was completed, their clients came to our town instead – attracted by the ghouls that reside here. Jack’s business started to suffer so he came here to make us suffer. He killed Jeremiah Simpkins for his money – money that he took back to his wife so that she could pay off their debts. Money that, if he was ever caught, would buy him a new life elsewhere. Herr Monika was killed for the tuning fork – the item that would help him frame the vampires. Mrs. Rouble was killed, again because of her shop. Jack stole a potion that would stop The Count from being able to see his actions. With The Count blinded he was able to go to his castle and kill Igor – taking Igor’s vial that Victor Frankenstein had left him…”

  “And what would he want with that?”

  Van Helsing didn’t answer. He didn’t know the answer. He was also more concerned with that fact that his head felt funny and the stickiness from his left hand seemed to have gone. Within seconds the stickiness from his right hand disappeared too – and he swung down from the ceiling with only his feet holding him in place. He looked down to the floor below… the hard, stone floor. In fact, he was so concerned with the floor below him that he failed to realise his face had returned back to that of the Van Helsing the people all knew and loved and that the two teeth mark in the side of his neck had more or less vanished too.

  The people below didn’t say anything. They could see that something was happening but they couldn’t make it out either. With no one that had ever been in Van Helsing’s position (both as a vampire and someone stuck to the ceiling of a building by their tip toes only) no one really knew what to expect next. Within seconds Van Helsing plummeted to the floor, landing flat on his back in the middle of the crowd. Instantly he blocked out the pain that his nearly-crippled body felt and held his hands to up to protect his face from the sudden violent kicking that he expected from the people. Yet – no feet came kicking. There were no flying punches. There were no stampings of feet onto his body and there were no sharp objects stuck into his now-human body.

  Van Helsing opened his eyes and peered out from behind his shaking hands only to see one of the town’s people holding out their hand to help Van Helsing to his feet – gratefully he took it and stood up (slowly because, whether he’d admit it or not, the fall did bloody hurt).

  The same person who helped Van Helsing to his feet brushed the dirt from Van Helsing’s jacket and asked, “What happened to your bite marks?”

  Van Helsing felt his neck where the two small holes had been and, sure enough, they were gone. He smiled a toothy smile (as opposed to a fangy one), “You believe me about the killer?”

  The majority of the crowd, that had now formed a circle around Van Helsing, muttered in agreement.

  “The future’s changed!” said Van Helsing. With the majority of the town believing that vampires were innocent, they wouldn’t start a war (which they’d lose) against them. This, in turn, meant that vampires wouldn’t end up ruling the world, Judge Reiger wouldn’t end up being bitten, killing The Count and leading the remaining vampires and, more importantly, Judge Reiger would never turn Van Helsing into a vampire. (All this time travel stuff sure is confusing!)

  “We’ve done it!” laughed Van Helsing. “We’ve done it!” he said again, more or less for dramatic effect and just in case some people at the back of the crowd didn’t hear him.

  “Done what?” came a stern voice from the doorway. The crowd split down the middle forming an alleyway between Van Helsing and the doorway; an alleyway between Van Helsing and Judge Reiger.

  “What the hell is going on?” spat Judge Reiger. He addressed the crowd, “You all align yourselves with Van Helsing now? You all align yourselves with the vampires now?”

  No one answered.

  “Do I need to remind you that Van Helsing is a killer? Do I need to remind you that Van Helsing is a traitor to The Normals?”

  Again, no one answered.

  “Traitors need to be hung. Friends of traitors need to be hung. Are you all friends with this traitor?”

  And again, no one answered. They didn’t need to. Their silence spoke louder than any words that could have been spoken. Besides which, Van Helsing simply approached Judge Reiger until they were face to face.

  “This is for the future,” said Van Helsing before laying a hard left hook to the side of Judge Reiger’s head – dropping him to the floor like a sack of potatoes (although I have to confess I don’t really understand that saying). The crowd cheered as Judge Reiger fell into a deep state of unconsciousness.

  Speaking over the cheers of the rowdy crowd Van Helsing continued, “We need to find Jack before he kills again…”

  “I’m not too sure if this would be too convenient,” said a local innkeeper who stepped forward to have his say, “but just before the killings started – a Jack checked into my Inn…”

  There is no denying that it is very convenient. There is also no denying that it’s a very obvious attempt at moving the story forward too but you need to remember that, back in the old days, people weren’t as sharp as they are today (just look at your parents) and so it is highly possible, and plausible, that Jack could have checked himself into an inn using his real name, instead of taking the time to think of an alias.

  “I just thought he was another tourist,” continued the local innkeeper (we’ll call him Frank – because that was his name).

  “He didn’t seem suspicious to you? Do you remember whether he ventured out at the same time of the murders?” asked Van Helsing – switching straight into detective mode so he could hurry up and put this whole sorry state of affairs behind him (and the rest of the town for they were also fed up of it all).

  “He checked in but said he didn’t have any money – asked if he could pay up the following day after he had a chance to get some money together. That was the morning of Halloween. He said he was tired from his journey and, well, I didn’t want to put him back on th
e streets on Halloween – Lord only knows what would have happened to him if he wandered the streets at night!” continued Frank – embarrassed that he may be harboring a murderer. “Besides, I always figured that I could kick him out in the morning, if he didn’t come up with the money by then. It’s not as though there wasn’t any room at the inn. Worst case scenario he would have had one free night…”

  “But he paid up?” asked Van Helsing – wishing for simple answers as opposed to long, rambling nonsense.

  “Yes – the very next morning, just as he had promised. He even gave me a little extra for my generousity as way of a thank you. Truth be told, I didn’t even see him leave his room all night – so I was surprised when he did come downstairs with the bag of money.”

  “The bag of money?” asked Van Helsing as his mind continued piecing together the evidence.

  “Yes – a whole bag of money. A black bag!”

  It sounded like Van Helsing had found his man alright. Jeremiah’s money was kept in a black bag too. It seemed too convenient that a man named Jack would turn up the morning before Jeremiah was murdered, with no money, and then, the following morning, have a black bag of cash ready – and it must have been a fair amount of cash considering he even paid extra.

  “Do you think it’s him?” asked Frank as his mind wondered whether housing a killer would be good or bad for business.

  “I don’t think it would hurt to ask him some questions, do you know where he went?” asked Van Helsing.

  “Well, he should still be there, for the night after Halloween he paid up for a month’s stay,” said Frank.

  Instantly there were murmurings from the gathered crowd. The murmurs of angry people who wanted nothing more than to see an evil killer swing by their neck. Van Helsing also wanted to see the killer get his comeuppance but – being the lawman – he wanted it done properly; he also knew that Jack was dangerous and didn’t want any more innocent people hurt.

  “People – leave this to me. Frank, you take me back to your inn. I take it you have a master key to the bedroom?”

  “Yes.”

  “You let me have the key and then you leave the premises. By the end of the day, I’ll have this man in custody but I ask you all, once more, to leave this to me.”

  “Why can’t we just go round there and get him ourselves?” asked one of the crowd members.

  “You all made me the sheriff – now let me be the sheriff. We need to keep this to ourselves. We can’t afford to let him get away. Do you all understand?”

  Nearly everyone in the crowd muttered in agreement and nodded their heads signifying their joint understanding. There was just a lone soul who didn’t nod or understand the importance of keeping quiet. Chris Page.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  THE SNOWBALL EFFECT

  A big, big thank you to the following people who supported my group on Facebook

  - Matt Shaw

  Chris Page couldn’t wait to leave the Town Hall and run to his friends, to let them know that he knew who the killer was – and, more importantly, where the killer was. Without thinking of the consequences he immediately told Calum Short who proceeded to tell Luke Hodder, Anthony Shonk and Mark Field.

  Telling Mark Field was a mistake. A bigger mistake than Chris Page opening his mouth in the first place! Mark Field proceeded to tell Helen Leathers (who simply had to tell Adam Cook), Rachel Coles, Matthew Dale, Michelle Holmes and even Ami McCaffrey. When he told Ami McCaffrey he was even overheard by Nichola Scarlett and Charlie Halstead-Clewley…

  It all got out of hand very fast as news of the identity and whereabouts spread through the rest of the town. Soon Steven Whitaker, Rendel Ingram, James Charles Barnes, Seb Clift, Barny Ingram, Alex Twine, Ian Pearson, James Drake, Rob Maddison, Matt Owen, James Burrows, Paris Williams, Liam J. Hayter, Amy Leach, Kerry Harris and even Cyka Uchuujin all knew who was responsible for the murders.

  But it didn’t stop there.

  News had also spread to Luke Farmery who, naturally, told his brother Richard Farmery. Richard Farmery didn’t believe him and asked what Carolyn Godrich and Simon Godrich thought about it. They had never heard of Jack and proceeded to check with Zoe Samantha Shave, Tracy Cope, Simon Davis, Elliot Davis, Alex Davis and Alex Newbury (who they bumped into at a supermarket).

  Zoe thought the whole thing was a joke and shared the news with Margaret Anne Shave, Susan Mandy Mander, Paul Mander, Phil Mander, Daniel Mander and Norman Farmery (who whispered it to Josh Shave just in case no one had told him yet).

  If it had stopped there – it may not have got back to Jack but, unfortunately, the news kept on getting spread through the town.

  Lizzy Ellis got to hear of Jack through her partner, Jim Reeves. She didn’t really know many other people but she soon spread the news to random people that she bumped into whilst on family days out. She told Pauline Whiting, James Godwin, Sophia Russell, Emily Weekes and even Mike Beards. Mike Beards, who loved a bit of gossip, told Sharon Haylett, who told her brother David Haylett, who told Steve and Kate. Steve and Kate told Julie Shaw, who told Martin Shaw – in earshot of Wendy Shaw.

  Wendy Shaw wasted no time in telling Beckie and Ollie Hardman – Ollie told Simon Kimble, who told Karen Jeanes.

  Within the hour the killer was being advertised on boards around the town; and that’s where Karen Gregor read about it – as did Gemma Forbes, Sheree Osborne, Donna-Louise Sheedy, Lizzie Baird, Cheryll Anne Challis, Sandra Stanton, Joanne Sillitoe and Jenny Chapman.

  The last people to hear were Elliot Marsh, Duncan Goddard, Nicky Hallwood and Rachael Lyons but by then the damage was done. Jack had heard that Van Helsing was coming for him…

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  PLACES TO GO, PEOPLE TO KILL

  Dear Sheriff,

  I hear through the grapevine that I’ve been rumbled. It doesn’t matter. You’ll never catch me. I am the one that got away. Don’t feel too bad. You were never destined to catch me. My killings will be timeless and I will be known through history as one of the most prolific serial killers of all time. I’ve enjoyed our game of cat and mouse but, suffice to say, it’s time to go. I’ll be seeing you in the future, dear friend.

  Fondest Regards.

  BY THE TIME VAN HELSING got to the inn, a large crowd wasn’t far behind him. Some of the crowd carried torches (not a torch for seeing in the dark like you and I use, instead a stick with a large ball of fire burning away on the end of it), some of them carried pitch forks and some of them carried knives and forks (for they were interrupted whilst they were eating and rushed out without putting them aside for fear of missing the action).

  Before venturing into the inn, Van Helsing turned around to glare at the gathered lynch mob – a glare that clearly told them to ‘stay out of my way’. He didn’t want any of them there – other than Victor just in case he needed a little back up.

  “We’ve got your back if he manages to get past you,” said Frank who clearly understood the meaning of Van Helsing’s glare as he handed Van Helsing the key to Jack’s room.

  Van Helsing nodded a thank you to Frank and also took Frank’s heavy club off him – just so that he too could have a weapon on the off chance that Jack was also armed. With a final glare to the rest of the crowd, he turned to the inn’s entrance and slowly walked inside – being careful not to be too noisy as he opened the heavy, wooden door.

  Despite his cool, calm and moody exterior, Van Helsing didn’t enjoy confrontation. The first time he killed a vampire he got lucky. He was scared and he got very lucky indeed. The second time he faced off against a vampire, he knew how to kill them but, again, it was just a case of fluke that he managed to do it. With all the fights he had been in – it had always been Lady Luck who had let him come out victorious. As he nervously cast his eyes around the welcome desk of the inn – he desperately hoped that Lady Luck was, once again, on his side.

  The crowd outside of the inn started to get restless. Some of them shifted uneasily on their feet – hoping th
at Jack would get past Van Helsing so they could get their seven pounds worth of flesh from the murderer. Others hoped that it would just be over quickly and Van Helsing would bring out Jack in a pair of cuffs, ready to be taken into custody.

  * * * * *

  The Count, himself, was sat in his castle’s drawing room already aware of the outcome – smiling for two reasons. The first was that he already knew the killer managed to get away from Van Helsing (and he loved it when the bad guys managed to get one over on the good guys). The second reason was that he wouldn’t have to fight the town’s people. He didn’t mind eating, or turning, the odd person here or there but, as previously explained, he didn’t want to ruin his current set up. It would take a little bit of time, but he knew things would eventually return to normal and he could continue to live in peace, with his slow-growing family.