Psychics Vs. Vampires Episodes 1-4 (Psychics Vs. Vampires Collection)

by Shawn Wiseman

  Kara tried to enter the car, but the door was locked. She bent over and knocked on the window. Damien waved his hand at her, trying to shoo her away. She frowned and furrowed her brows in her best "are you serious?" face, and then she pointed to the lock.

  He gave her an angry look, and then rolled down the window. "Go away!" he spat before rolling up the window again.

  "Screw this," Kara said aloud.

  She used her telekinesis to open the lock on the door and got inside. Damien did a double take as she sat down and closed the door. She clicked the button to unlock the other doors, and Raymond entered the back seat.

  "What the fuck are you guys doing here? You're going to get me caught!"

  Damien went back to looking out the window towards the other side of the street.

  "I should ask you the same question. What are you doing chasing after Detective Simmons? You want to get yourself killed?"

  Damien turned around and looked astonished. "How did you know I was going after Simmons?"

  Kara rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, you think it was that hard to figure out? Ray tells you about how Simmons sent someone after us again, and you disappear. It's not much of a stretch."

  Damien looked furious, and he directed some of that anger at Raymond. "Why'd you go and tell her, Raymond?"

  "Maybe if you texted me back I wouldn't have worried about you so much," he retorted.

  Damien clenched his teeth and turned his attention back to the house he was watching. "So what about it? I'd rather try and attack him and get killed than wait around for him to send another of his goons after us… and I didn't want to involve you guys."

  Kara's voice softened. "We're already involved. We have a right to be party to this. I know you're just trying to be chivalrous, but you're endangering yourself when we could be working together."

  There was a brief pause before Damien responded. "Yeah, well, I don't care. You should leave before you blow my cover."

  Kara and Raymond looked at each other. Raymond couldn't help but laugh, and Kara sputtered a few snickers as well. "You're not doing the best job as it is. People on the street can see you."

  Damien growled. "It's not like I can help how big I am or where I can park. This is the only place I found where I could see the detective's home."

  "Why are you watching him anyway?" Kara asked. "If you were going to attack I thought you would have done it already."

  "I only just found his home address. I thought the guy would go out last night, and I was going to attack him then, but he didn't. I changed plans and was going to bust into his home after he goes to sleep."

  "And what are you planning to do? Scare him? Kill him?" Kara asked.

  Damien glanced over his shoulder at Kara, his face stone. "I don't know."

  Kara could tell he was holding back. Raymond had said he told Damien about what happened with the assassin, so he no doubt also mentioned her meltdown when Raymond killed him.

  "You should leave," Damien said while looking across the street.

  "No, we're not leaving. You can't kill Simmons. We need to see if he's working with anyone or if he's on his own."

  Damien turned around to face Kara. "No, that's stupid. We should just kill him and get it over with. Even if he is working with someone, he wouldn't tell us."

  "You don't know that. Why does it matter if we try to interrogate him?"

  "It's a waste of time."

  Kara and Damien continued to argue about the issue for a minute, getting increasingly angry, until…

  Raymond pushed Kara and Damien's heads down until they were between their legs and held them there. "He's getting out of his house. Stay down," he warned.

  A few moments passed as Raymond held them down in a crouched position and eyed the other side of the street from behind the front seat.

  "Can we get up now?"

  Raymond removed his hands after another few seconds. "Start the car, Damien," he ordered while looking over his shoulder. "He's getting in his car. We have to follow him."

  Damien turned the keys in the ignition while he stared at the mirrors and the reflection of Simmons in them. He waited for Simmons to drive by, and then pulled out to follow him.

  Kara and Raymond managed to convince Damien to tail Simmons instead of initiating an attack while driving, though it took a few attempts to calm him down.

  Damien managed to stay a few cars behind, but still kept up with Simmons. After a few minutes and several turns Damien lost sight of Simmons's car. Kara was able to follow his psychic energy and they caught up again just as Simmons was pulling into an alley.

  Damien circled around the alley, and when it was clear that that was where Simmons was heading, they parked the car nearby. They all got out of the car and headed into a small nearby building and up to the roof.

  Before they went through the door to access the roof, Damien warned them to be silent. They went out and crept close to the edge of the roof, then got down on their stomachs to peek out over the edge.

  Below, they could see Simmons's car parked in the alley. There were no nearby lights, and the buildings around them were either abandoned or closed for the night, as there was no light coming from the windows. The dark of night was nothing to their eyesight, but it still gave a foreboding feeling to the affair. All they could see at their angle was the occasional puff of smoke dancing its way out of the front window of the car, and Simmons's arm flicking the butt to knock the ash off.

  "Why is he here, of all places?" Kara whispered.

  "Shut up," Damien commanded.

  "Maybe it's like you were saying: He's working with someone else," Raymond speculated.

  "Shut up," Damien urged louder.

  "Maybe they're meeting with him tonight?"

  "They could be planning another attack."

  Damien placed his hands over Kara's and Raymond's mouths, and then whispered, "There's someone down there."

  Kara's and Raymond's eyes followed Damien's gaze, and they could see a person in the shadows of the alley approaching Simmons's car. Kara shoved Damien's hand off her mouth and focused her attention on the shadowy figure.

  There wasn't much to see—the person was wearing an old-fashioned black cloak, but he was tall and muscular. Kara thought it might have been a man, but she couldn't be sure. As the person approached the detective's vehicle, Kara noticed an absence of noise from the figure's footsteps. Even with her superior hearing, she still couldn't register footsteps.

  Maybe it's a psychic and they can float? she thought. Kara focussed on the person's feet, and noticed that he was moving his feet like he was walking. Why would he walk if he was floating already? What kind of a human can move that silently? Unless… Kara looked over to her companions, and she could tell that they’d come to the same conclusion. The person meeting Simmons might be a vampire. No normal human could be that silent.

  Kara, Raymond, and Damien all watched with rapt attention and perked ears as the man entered Simmons's car.

  "Saw you this time, you stealthy fuck. Why do you do that all the time, anyway?"

  "I do it in case I need to do this," the stranger—it was a man—replied.

  There was the sound of ripping fabric and then a crunch, all within a few seconds. Simmons coughed and there was a distinct splat of something red against the windshield in front of him. He’d just been stabbed through the stomach, and it had punctured his lungs. Whoever that person was, Simmons knew him, trusted him, and was being killed by him.

  "The boss is disappointed in you. We told you not to fail killing the girl this time. Sorry, Simmons. At least you'll make a nice meal."

  There was a thunk as the unmistakable sound of fangs ramming into flesh met their ears. There was no mistaking it now—the shadow figure was a vampire. A vampire had told Simmons to send psychics after Olivia and the others.

  After another moment, the man exited the vehicle and left the alley before Kara, Raymond and Damien could recover from their shock to do anything. When t
hey came out of their stupor, they rose to their feet, collectively jumped down into the alley, and ran over to Simmons's car.

  They heard the faint sound of sirens off in the distance, but they couldn't tell if it was headed their way or not. Damien didn't want to take any chances with the police. "We have to get out of here. Being next to a dead detective is not the place to be right now."

  Kara slowly walked towards the car and knelt down to look inside. The bloody body of Detective Simmons was sitting in the front seat, his eyes staring straight ahead… until Kara moved into view. Simmons looked over at her.

  "Oh my God, he's still alive," she said as her hand instantly covered her mouth.

  The other two ignored the possibility of police for the moment and went over next to Kara to see. The detective was barely breathing, sweat covered his forehead, and blood dripped from his mouth and chin. His lips were moving, and it seemed like he was trying to say something.

  "Ahh… aaa… faa…" Simmons tried to utter something meaningful, but he didn't have the breath to carry it on. He reached his left hand towards Kara.

  The sound of sirens was closer than ever, and the police would be on them in no time.

  "We need to leave," Damien insisted.

  Kara drew closer to the dying detective. She needed to hear what he was trying to say.

  "Kara!" Raymond called.

  Kara stepped to the edge of the car, but Simmons didn't have the power. Raymond grabbed Kara's arm, but she wouldn't budge. The detective moved his trembling hand into his jacket pocket and tried to pull something out, but couldn't summon the strength to do so. His hand went limp, and his eyes glassed over.

  Kara's jaw dropped. She went inside the car and reached into Simmons's pocket to get what he was holding. It was his phone. She pulled it out and placed it in her pocket.

  The others were eyeing her with concern and anger. She started running, and the two followed her. They ran to the other end of the alley where their car was parked. Before they could reach the street, the sound of sirens caught up with them and a police car stopped in front of the vehicle.

  Kara looked over her shoulder, and there was another police car on the other end of the alley. Two police officers exited their vehicle at that side, and one of them was talking on their radio.

  On their end of the alley, the police exited their car as well, and motioned for Kara, Raymond, and Damien to stop. Both of them had one hand firmly on their guns, but they didn't draw them… yet.

  "Stop!" one of them commanded.

  Damien tensed, and Kara noticed him clenching his fists. She used her telekinesis to restrain him, and when he noticed he glared at her.

  The police came closer, but kept their distance. "Want to tell me why you were running?" one of them asked.

  Kara glanced at the others, but her mind was blank. How could they explain what they were doing to get them out of here? If Olivia was here she'd know just what to say.

  Over the radio on the policeman's shoulder, the other officers said, "Detective Simmons is dead. Take the suspects in for questioning."

  One of the police officers pulled out his gun, but kept it aimed at the ground. "Alright, you three, turn around and place your hands up on the wall of that building. You're under arrest," he stated as the second officer pulled out handcuffs.

  The police read them their rights, and then Kara, Raymond, and Damien were all arrested and taken away as suspects for a murder they didn't commit.

  3. Suspects

  "So you're telling me that you just happened upon the detective, and when you heard the sirens your first inclination was to run?"

  Kara nodded. "I don't know how many times I have to say it for you to believe me. Check with my friends, they'll back me up. We heard someone scream in the alley so we checked it out, and then we saw the body and heard the sirens. We panicked. I know… it's pathetic," she said with her head downcast.

  She was confident that the others would have the same story thanks to low-volume whispers on the ride back to the police station and enhanced hearing. They were able to come up with what to say by the time they reached the station, and the police officers were none the wiser.

  The detective interrogating her, Detective Janos, gave her a sceptical and frustrated look. Because there was no blood on them, no weapons, and no eyewitnesses, there was nothing to hold them on.

  The detective rose from his seat and excused himself from the room. Kara's hands were shackled to a table in an interrogation room similar to the one she’d rescued Olivia from weeks ago. It was a different station, but they all looked the same to her. Brick and metal framework, wooden doors, and a lingering smell of coffee, ink, gunpowder, and testosterone.

  Kara laid her head down on the table to rest, and put her hood up to let the darkness in. It was getting late, and she was growing weary. When she closed her eyes she could see the dead body of Simmons in his car, a red messy hole in his chest, and blood dripping from his chin. It looked like one of her premonitions she usually saw when she foresaw a person's death, but this time it was in the past instead of the future.

  Why couldn't I feel his death approaching? she thought. Maybe I'm just a shitty psychic and I need to learn how to control my powers better. Kara rubbed her hair. Why does it matter anyway? I don't need to save these people. I should be happy that they're dead because less people will come after us. Kara let out a sigh and laid her cheek on the cold metal table. But why do I still feel so guilty?

  Olivia's voice came into her head. "You care too much, Kara."

  "Ye best blacken yer soul," another memory said.

  Kara groaned. She knew they were right, but it didn't change how she felt.

  The door opening woke Kara up, and she saw the detective who’d been interrogating her enter the room, followed by a uniformed officer. The uniformed officer held keys in his hand, and released her from her bonds.

  "You're free to go, but stay in town. We might need you again for further questioning."

  Kara nodded as she rubbed her hands where the shackles had been. She walked out of the interrogation room and looked for her friends. She noticed them near an elevator with police escorts. She walked over to them, and they all entered the elevator with two police officers. They rode the elevator in silence, tension palpable in the air.

  Upon reaching the bottom floor, officers led them to the exit, then left when they were away from the closed-off areas. The three of them exited the police station, walked a block away, and called for a cab.

  "Well, I'm glad that's over with," Raymond commented.

  "Just be glad that we weren't charged with anything."

  "We wouldn't have even had this issue if you listened to us and ran earlier," Damien shouted.

  "I was trying to recover this," she snarled, pulling Simmons's phone out of her pocket.

  "Is that…?" Raymond asked while pointing at the phone.

  Kara nodded. "This is Simmons's phone, and it's going to help us find out who he was working for, who ordered the hit on Olivia, and maybe who killed him."

  Kara pushed the button to turn on the phone, and it immediately went to a lock screen asking for a four-digit passcode. Kara cursed under her breath.

  "It's locked," she announced. "Ray, would you be able to get into it?" she asked, offering the phone to him.

  Raymond put up his hands. "I'm not that good with tech. I wouldn't know where to start."

  Damien scoffed and folded his arms. "Great. We just went through all that trouble, placed targets on our backs for a murder we didn't commit, and for what? We're no further ahead, and it's all your fault." Damien pointed at Kara.

  At first, Damien's attack made her want to clutch her heart, but her anger suppressed the ache. "My fault?" she shouted. "It's because of what I did that we even have this, and that we know he was working for someone else." Kara got up in Damien's personal space and jabbed her finger on his chest. "If you had your way you would have killed him on the way to whomever it was he was me
eting."

  "Then just what do you propose we do now? In your ultimate psychic wisdom, how do we proceed?"

  Kara closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "As far as I know, there's only one person who can help us unlock the phone and decipher the information inside. I don't like having to ask this person for help, but we have no choice."

  …

  "So, what brings you to me so late at night?"

  Kara, Raymond, and Damien all sat in luxurious seats at a table across from the ever vivacious Vasha. She was wearing a form-fitting purple dress with flowery see-through sleeves, and her hair was up in a loose bun.

  Her restaurant was almost empty, and the staff were preparing to close for the night. Her usual bodyguards were standing behind her with their arms folded and a menacing look directed towards the three. One of them flashed his fangs at Raymond, and he cringed.

  "We're here because we need help," Kara said.

  Vasha raised her brow. "Oh? I'm intrigued. Your group always seems to have the most interesting problems. First a kidnapping, then an assassin. I wonder what new enemy the amazing Kara, vampire-slash-psychic, could have made this time?" she mocked while leaning back in her seat.

  "I'm sure you recall our first encounter, when Olivia was taken and held by a psychic detective?" Kara asked.

  "Yes, I remember."

  Kara pulled out the phone and placed it on the table. "This is the detective's phone. He died… He was killed by someone earlier this night."

  Vasha's mouth went flat, and she no longer seemed amused.

  "We overheard a conversation before he was killed, and it seemed like the detective was working under someone else."

  Vasha crossed her legs and placed her folded hands on her knee. "Were any names mentioned? Did you manage to see the person who killed this detective?"

  "No, but we believe the man who killed him was a vampire. He mentioned that the detective would make a good "meal" before he started sucking his blood. That's why we brought you this phone. If we can unlock it there might be a phone number or an email or something that could lead us back to whoever's behind these attacks."