Shadow Hunted

by L. A. Johnson

  “Even worse than usual,” Lydia said. “I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s go have a look at your vampire crime scene.”

  As she drove, he directed her downtown to city hall. Then they got out and she followed him past a wall of street cops and into the building. Once inside, they headed toward the elevator and went up to the sixth floor.

  As soon as she got off the elevator, Lydia knew where to go. There was crime scene tape everywhere. Zack pulled up the tape so that she could duck under. The whole thing felt surreal, like she had wandered into a cop show on television. It was actually kind of fun. She continued down the hallway to an office at the end. The door was open.

  Lydia glanced into the office before going in. There was a breeze. That was odd considering she was in a high-rise building six floors off of the ground. Her gaze went to the window which was smashed open. She looked at Zack.

  “I told you this was going to be a weird one,” he said.

  She crossed the room, her shoes crunching on small shards of broken glass. “Um, Zack? This window looks like it was smashed from the outside.”

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “I don’t see a rock or concrete or anything. Did you find the object that broke the window? And how did the object in question get six stories up?”

  “That’s a good question. And no, I don’t have an answer for you. What you see here is how we found it. Nothing in this room was changed or removed. Except for the body.”

  “Okay,” Lydia said as she looked around. “Since the body isn’t here anymore, talk me through that part of the crime scene. Where was it and how was it positioned?”

  He pointed to the opposite end of the room from the window and walked over. “The body was found back here, against the wall.”

  Lydia followed him to the spot and then knelt down. “So whatever attacked him, he saw it coming,” Lydia said. “He backed up. Did he try to fight it off? Were there any defensive wounds? Do your people suspect he knew his attacker?”

  Zack shook his head. “It was impossible to tell if there were any defensive wounds.”

  Lydia didn’t like the sound of that. “What are you talking about? Why couldn’t they tell?”

  Zack brought up a picture on his cell phone. Then he handed it to her.

  Lydia looked down at it. She gagged a little. “What the hell is that?”

  “I don’t understand,” he said. “You’ve seen vampire victims before, right?”

  “Yes, I’ve seen a few in my time. None of them looked like that.”

  “What do you mean?” Zack asked. “The department is sure that this murder is vampire related.”

  Lydia shook her head. “I’m telling you. Vampires don’t do that. It’s not how they feed.”

  The body in question was completely shriveled up. Not only had something sucked out the blood, but it appeared to have sucked out his insides too. Lydia tried to explain it to Zack. “Vampires, even if they’re starving to death, don’t need more than four or five pints of blood. That’s enough to kill someone, sure, but the body never looks like that. Whatever killed this guy, it wasn’t a vampire.”

  “Of course it was a vampire,” Zack said, “it had to be. The coroner said he found two puncture wounds in the neck area of the victim. Do you know any other creature that kills like that?”

  “I don’t care what they found. I’m telling you, I’ve never seen anything like this before. What makes you people so damn sure it was a vampire?”

  “Surveillance footage, for one. It shows a known vampire walking down the hallway and entering this room right around the time of death. There was no surveillance in the room itself.”

  “Can I see the footage?” Lydia asked. They left the crime scene and made their way to an empty conference room down the hall and sat down.

  He brought up the footage on his phone.

  She watched the video as a burly vampire with a biker jacket came down the hall and went into the room without knocking. A few minutes later, the vampire came back out. She looked down at the time stamp.

  “It looks like he was only in the room for a few minutes.” Lydia said.

  “Yeah, we were hoping you could help us with the timeline. Do you think he was there long enough to kill the mayor’s aide?” Zack asked.

  Lydia shook her head. “I just don’t know. I think we’re going to have to find him and ask him.”

  “You mean we have to find and ask the vampire? How do you suggest we do that?” Zack asked.

  She rewound the footage again. On the vampire’s bicep was a snake tattoo with a red circle around it. She pointed it out to Zack. “I know that tattoo. It’s the symbol for a biker gang that hangs out just outside of town at a bar called Immortal Ale.”

  Zack’s eyes widened. “What are you going to do? Just walk into a vampire biker gang bar?”

  Lydia smiled. “No. We’re going to walk into a vampire biker gang bar .”

  Nine

  Lydia got into the car and watched the frown roll across Zack’s face at the mention of the vampire biker bar. She hit the gas and roared off down the street with a chuckle. “What’s the matter, Zack?” she asked. “You said you were suicidal, right? And your bosses want answers on this murder case, I’m guessing. Solving this might make you a hero. It might even allow them to overlook your psych report.”

  “And it might get me sucked dry.” He shook his head. “I really don’t want that to happen to me.”

  “Me neither,” Lydia said. “But I’m telling you, it wasn’t a vampire.”

  “What was it, then? And if you’re so convinced that the vampire guy in the video is not the murderer, then why are we rushing out there to find him?”

  “Well, we have to rule him out, for one. And besides, maybe he saw something. Vampires are fantastic at remembering details. They make great witnesses. I hope he saw something helpful.” The two of them rode in silence until they were out of town and in the middle of nowhere. “We’re almost there,” she announced.

  A few minutes later, Lydia pulled her car slowly up to the parking lot outside of the bar. The words Immortal Ale were spelled out in red and blue neon letters and there were dozens of motorcycles scattered around. She parked in the back, out of the way, and turned off the engine.

  “I still don’t know what you expect to gain from this,” Zack said. “Even if this guy’s guilty, he’s not going to confess just because we go in there to talk to him.”

  “You just destroyed the foundation of all human police work in one sentence,” Lydia said. “And why wouldn’t he admit it? Human cops don’t want a lethal immortal in their prison. Even if he did it, he wouldn’t be afraid of us. The vampires would probably take care of him themselves. And if they didn’t, the most the human cops would do is hire the Mage Council to run him out of town. And guess who the Mage Council hires to do their dirty work?”

  “You. Right,” he said. “I’ll bet that makes you less popular with the vampire community, working with the Mages to run people out of town.”

  “Frankly it doesn’t come up very often. Especially with vampires. They police their own. That’s why this whole thing is so strange.” She got out of the car. “Are you coming or not?”

  He got out of the car. “Okay,” he said, “but we’re going to keep a low profile, right?”

  “Absolutely,” Lydia answered. “And don’t worry. That murder wasn’t committed by a vampire.”

  “So you keep telling me.”

  Lydia approached the wooden door with the ironic wooden stakes crossed overhead and pointed. “Funny, wooden stakes. See? At least these vampires have a sense of humor.”

  She opened the door and went in. Immediately, she had to wave her hand around in front of her face as a defense against the wall of cigarette smoke. The place looked like a speakeasy from the nineteen twenties. Every vamp in the place was lighting up. She coughed and tried to make her way forward to the bar.

  “I guess the immortal don’t have to worry abo
ut the effects of second-hand smoke,” Lydia said, loud enough to attract attention from a few of the patrons at the bar. They turned to glare at her.

  “What are you doing here, blondie?” one of them asked. He had long dark greasy hair in a man-bun and wore a wife beater tee shirt. “Let me guess,” he continued, “you’re looking to be a blood donor. No wait. I’ve got it. You’re looking for a sparkly vampire.” Laughter rang out.

  “What’s the matter?” Lydia asked. “A girl can’t walk into a smoke-filled vampire biker bar that operates as a front for an organized crime headquarters and order a drink?”

  The sound of chairs sliding backward filled the room as a group of nearby vampires got up from their tables and surrounded Lydia and Zack.

  “This is your idea of keeping a low profile?” Zack asked her.

  “I’ve found that keeping a low profile interferes with my goal, which is to get their attention,” Lydia answered, spinning to face a growing circle of attackers.

  “What are you two really doing here?” Man-bun vampire asked.

  “Ordering a jack and coke,” Lydia answered, “why?”

  “Well, you got their attention all right,” Zack said.

  “Oh yeah,” Lydia said to Zack, “One more thing. Duck!” She threw a punch at man bun’s face that landed square on his jaw. There was a moment of absolute silence after that, but it didn’t last long. Two seconds later, the whole room was after them in an old-fashioned bar-room brawl.

  Lydia jumped over to the other side of the bar, surprising the bartender who was holding her freshly made jack and coke. “Thanks,” she said. She took a sip and then threw the cup at a vampire who had grabbed Zack by his shirt and was holding him up in the air. The glass didn’t have very much of an effect, which was disappointing. Just as the vampire reared an arm back to pummel Zack, Lydia jumped back over the bar lightning fast to grab his fist.

  “Enough!” a voice came from the back of the room. The person who said it must have been very powerful because every vampire in the rowdy bar immediately complied.

  Lydia glanced over to see who it was. A tall, skinny vampire had come out of a room in the back. He had the old-school, classical vampire look- pale, formal clothing, perfect posture and slicked-back dark hair.

  It was a stark contrast to the other, much more modern looking bikers in the bar. She had never seen the skinny vampire before, but he looked ancient, and yet the opposite of frail. His dark eyes darted from Lydia to Zack. Lydia felt a shudder of fear. Now she knew what it felt like to be literal prey. Maybe this wasn’t as good an idea as she thought.

  The old vampire crossed the room toward Lydia and the sea of vampires parted for him. “I’m Luca,” he said when he was in front of Lydia and Zack. It was more of a statement than a friendly gesture. “And who might you be?” He performed a very slight hand gesture and the nearby vampires grabbed Lydia and Zack and held them in place.

  Luca approached Lydia. “I introduced myself,” he said. “Don’t be rude. Tell me who you are and why you came into my bar picking a fight with my poor defenseless vampires.”

  A chorus of laughter filled the room.

  Luca got closer to her, close enough to sniff her hair. He paused. “Ah,” he said. “A fae! Right here in my establishment. This does not happen every day.”

  The mood turned very serious. Luca glanced at Zack. “And a human. An unlikely pair to come in here and cause trouble. I trust you have a compelling reason. Otherwise, my men and I are very good at hiding bodies.”

  Luca turned and snapped his fingers. Then he made his way toward a hallway at the back of the room. “Hey, Norman, get the iron rope, would you? And a pair of handcuffs.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Lydia said, struggling against the half a dozen vampires that were holding her. Well, her plan had worked to perfection. She now had the full attention of the vampire biker crime lord. It’s true what they say, be careful what you wish for. She felt a twinge of regret for not telling Zack the real plan. If the two of them got out of this in one piece, then she’d owe him one. And she had to admit, he’d been pretty cool under pressure so far. That was a good thing to know.

  The vampires pushed, pulled, and dragged the two of them across the room and down the hallway into a barren back office with two metal chairs and a beautiful leather couch that was too nice for the room. Luca sat on the couch while vampires tied Lydia and Zack to the metal chairs. The room was filled with overstuffed, ancient looking bookshelves. She had to fight the urge to sneeze from all the dust.

  Lydia stopped struggling. She wasn’t going to be able to fight her way out of this one, especially since Luca had figured out she was fae and used the iron rope. She had to breathe and remind herself that fighting her way out was never the plan anyway. “Hey, Luca. This isn’t very hospitable. Now I know why this bar only has two stars on Yelp.”

  “Don’t worry, fae,” he said, “there’s very little iron in that rope. It’s not enough to harm you, only enough to keep you out of trouble for a few minutes until I figure out what this is all about, and then whether or not I have to kill you.”

  “I keep telling you that won’t be necessary,” Lydia said.

  Luca nodded, and all but a few of the vampires left and went back to the bar. Then he continued, “Oh well, so much for fun and games. Now you have sixty seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t kill you both. I love it here in the Pacific northwest. There are many, many places to hide a body.”

  Lydia winced as Luca grinned a horrible grin. The bare lighting in the room wasn’t helping him out. “Yeah, yeah,” she said, pretending she wasn’t as afraid as she really was. Bluffing wasn’t really her strong suit though. “We get it. You’re a vampire crime lord. Who loves clichés. Believe it or not, I’m here on behalf of the Mage Council. As surprising as that sounds.”

  “I hate the Mage Council,” Luca replied, his frown deepened.

  “Me too,” Lydia said. “Small world.”

  “I don’t care about the Mage Council. Thirty seconds.” Luca tapped a terrifyingly long fingernail on the ancient looking wooden desk.

  “Fine,” Lydia said, hoping that she had held out long enough to earn enough of Luca’s respect for him to let them live, “one of your vamps is a murder suspect, okay? We just want to talk to him.”

  “Why not just walk in here and tell me that?” Luca asked.

  “Nobody talks to you. You’d have had your minions throw us out. Unless you wanted to kill us. Tell me I’m wrong.” Lydia raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

  Luca looked lost in thought for a moment. Then he sighed at her. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  Lydia nodded and gestured to Zack. “Uncuff him. He’s a detective. A human isn’t a threat to you anyway. One of your guys was seen leaving the scene of a murder, and the mayor’s on the warpath. We’re trying to clear your guy. Zack, show him the surveillance footage.”

  Luca nodded and the vampire next to Zack complied. Zack’s hands were shaking when he pulled the phone out of his pocket. He brought up the footage and handed it over. A vampire then took it to Luca and showed it to him. He watched it for a moment and then looked up.

  “Again, why should I care?” Luca asked. “If my guy did this, then I assure you I’ll take care of it.”

  “Because he didn’t do it, Luca. What’s it going to take for you to understand that we’re trying to help?” Then she remembered the picture of the body. “Look, if you don’t believe me, then bring up the last picture on Zack’s phone.”

  “Okay, but this is your last chance,” Luca said. “Ten seconds.”

  The younger vampire again complied, tapping on Zack’s phone. Lydia knew when the picture came up because both Luca and the younger vampire visibly recoiled in disgust.

  “What is this? Why are you showing me this abomination?” Luca asked.

  “That’s the murder victim,” Lydia said. “That’s how I know your guy didn’t do it. But the police have surveillance footage of your
guy coming in right around the time of the murder, so the cops want to arrest him. They don’t know he didn’t do it. I want to clear your guy before this situation gets any messier. I’m guessing you want that too.”

  “I don’t understand,” Zack said. “How does that photo clear the vampire? Vampires suck blood out of people. That guy was sucked dry. What am I missing?”

  “No vampire did that,” Luca said. “A vampire would never do that. Ever. There is only one thing that’s capable of what happened in that picture. And it can only be summoned by evil, dark magic.” Luca thought some more. “My first instinct is to blame your Mage Council for this pitiful attempt at a frame job, but I doubt they are even capable of this.”

  There was a change in Luca’s tone that made Lydia hopeful. “True,” Lydia said. “They are pretty helpless.”

  “There’s something else you should know,” Luca said. “If you really came here to warn me and to help my guy.” He fixed her with an intense stare.

  “I came to help. Scout’s honor,” Lydia said. “I’d raise my hand and all, but I can’t. You know, because of the iron rope.”

  Luca snapped his fingers again, and they released Lydia from her bonds.

  “Thanks,” Lydia said. “Now what was it I should know?”

  “The other reason I don’t think your Mage Council would release this thing on the city. Once summoned, it cannot be banished. Someone must kill it. And it will continue attacking until it is destroyed.”

  “And how exactly would one go about finding and killing something like that?” Lydia asked.

  “It’s from the shadow realm. Dark magic summoned it, and only dark magic can kill it,” Luca said.

  Lydia smiled a bitter smile of disappointment, she didn’t even know where to look for somebody who could wield dark magic. “What is that thing, anyway?”

  “First things first,” Luca said. He signaled one of the nearby henchmen vampires. “Bring our guests some drinks. And get Ethan down here.” Luca glanced at Lydia. “Ethan’s the one in the surveillance video. I have a few questions for him myself.”