The Meeting
Air blew in through the passenger window as the car rolled over the bridge into the west end. Toby didn't venture out to this side of the city because the church told him since youth not to venture that way. For his safety, they said. They told him to avoid joining the police department for that reason too. He hasn't felt welcome in the House of her Light since his brothers and fathers turned their backs on him. Of course he still believed in the truth in her purity and the justice carried in Her name. He just wished his brothers could see the Light like he did.
"You're quiet. Did I knock some sense into you?" Roslyn asked without taking her eyes off the road.
"The Nightcrawler swallows souls. That's his thing, right?" Toby asked. "A human soul has tremendous power. In the hands of a demon it can make them fearsome, insatiable predators like the vampires of old. If this creature was real, the church would've surely found and exorcised it by now."
"So you have been paying attention. You're forgetting something if you didn't know. Nightcrawler has no true face. He's a mass of limbs and mouths. He's teeth and hair. A living cancer bound in human skin."
"You're saying he has some way of eluding the paladins? They're the most highly trained guard in the city. There's no way."
"If he's real, my old friend will be a great help. He's the one who helped me work the Black files when I was new on the force."
"You mentioned your mentor. Said he worked in hangman's grotto."
"That's right. Who better to guard a prison than someone who never sleeps?"
"Feels like I never sleep anymore either." Toby rubbed his temples. He lifted his head and noticed her rear view mirror was foggy. He touched the glass and felt it was icy.
"Are you cold?" He asked the chief and saw her exhale. Toby held his breath looking as the windows all started to fog and ice over. The car engine died and the vehicle came to a slow stop by the curb. He felt a tingle down his spine, and an overwhelming presence of something malevolent around him.
"Toby, just relax and breathe." Roslyn said.
"Hello, Roslyn." A deep voice spoke from the backseat. Through the suspect cage, Toby saw a pair of piercing red eyes. In the dim moonlight he saw a slender, pale face and long grayish-black hair like brushed steel.
Toby was frozen in fear realizing what he was witnessing. An actual living vampire in the modern world, ages after the fall of Artemis. Vampires first ruled a dark and barren world with humans as their cattle slaves. Those were the days before Mitra's Light cleansed the earth. Before humans rose as the supreme leaders over Dominion.
"I got your call." He said and blinked slowly at the captain.
"You didn't answer so I thought I'd go looking." Roslyn said. "Make sure you aren't getting into trouble."
"You're the only one who calls. I know what you want. I'm retired, child. I'm not playing cops and robbers anymore." The pale man in the backseat leaned forward and took a good look at Toby. He could feet the boy's heart beating out of his chest. His fear was palpable.
"I wanted to ask about a closed case, actually. A suspect mentioned The Nightcrawler like he was walking around eating people."
"And you think I... heavens." The man shuddered. He had to lean back and cover his mouth. The urge didn't effect him often but Roslyn had to put the idea in his head. The boy had caused a panic in his chest by getting close. He definitely had been anointed and was carrying a holy symbol.
"I haven't done anything if that's what you're implying. My cravings are terrible but my throat is dry. Please tell me you don't suspect me of wrongdoing." His paranoid tone made Toby gasp. Was it true? That dark aura he felt was coming from this creature born of evil? If he was a serious murderer then he'd produce an aura like this as well. He wasn't certain he was looking at a true undead.
"I don't believe it. Vampires have to drink blood every night or they wither away and die. That's the first thing everyone knows." Toby grew annoyed with the captain. "Are you trying to scare me with this charade? What kind of stunt is this?" He interrogated.
Roslyn couldn't speak. Toby opened the door and got out of her car onto the sidewalk. "Toby!" She called to him.
The pale man was already standing on the sidewalk facing the cleric when he stood up. He was much taller than Tobias and wore a long cloak over his wrinkled black suit.
"Am I supposed to believe the DCPD let a vampire play detective, and even guard it's prison? We're guardians who protect this city, and all I feel from you is pure evil." Toby snarled and balled up his fists around his bead necklace around his neck.
"Look deeper if you wish. You only sense my undead bloodline." He said.
"So you say it's not just an act? How about I channel some holy power and see if you burn, vampire?" Toby clutched the bones in his hand and started to channel Mitra's Light. The so-called vampire's eyes widened and a look of fear flashed across his face.
Roslyn got out of the car yelling, "Officer, stop!" but she was too late to stop the spell being cast. The light only grew brighter. If his target was merely a man this spell might cause slight eye irritation looking directly into the spell. It would heal fresh wounds or help set a broken bone. To the undead and pure evil this spell was a searing pain that sought destruction.
The bead broke and disintegrated into Toby's glowing fist right before he unleashed his spell at the vampire. He felt the spell grow and separate, going in directions around the target like a rippling current.
What the captain saw was, at the moment Toby cast, Lautrec had also cast a protection spell on himself. A protection from good forcefield protected him from the brunt of the assault. It didn't negate all of it. When the dust settled, he was lightly smoldering around his body.
The burns weren't bad but they were enough to draw a scowl from him. Toby felt cold in his chest. He put a lot into that spell just in the hopes he could vaporize a vampire tonight. It seemed like this man brushed it off.
"Are you happy? I bought him that cloak and now it's smoking." Roslyn smacked Toby upside the head. "What the hell is wrong with you? Lautrec St. Leore is a decorated detective. He taught me everything I know, so he also taught you by extension."
"Why did you bring this fledging to me? You... you don't seriously want me to mentor him?" Lautrec pointed at Tobias.
"I don't need a mentor. I need to know what the hell is going on," Toby exclaimed.
"Agreed." The vampire folded his arms and looked to Roslyn.
She finally had their attention. "There was an incident two days ago. A body was found in an Eastpoint apartment, completely drained of their bodily fluids and throat ripped out. Since Lautrec was barely effected by your spell, we can probably rule him out. That's why I want to know about the Nightcrawler and if this rumor holds water."
Toby wanted to know more about this. A murder was serious enough to get him interested but the strange case presentation brought up a lot of questions he hadn't formed yet.
"It's an old story," Lautrec lit a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. "Humans always have fears of what lurks in the dark. I doubt the literal character stepped out of the pages and started killing. A demon is possible, but a rather sick human could commit the act."
While he spoke it boiled Toby's blood. He could almost taste the killer's instinct being projected by this man. He could've easily committed the act and was covering it up. He could've instructed a human to drain the blood for him. It was too easy to picture this fiend stalking the alley like a cloud of mist, just like how he got into Roslyn's squad car unnoticed.
"I thought he said he was retired," Toby muttered to Roslyn.
"I know how to get his attention. It's like charming a snake." She said. She could already see his mind ticking like a clock while he dragged on his smoke.
"What I'm hearing is you don't believe the Nightcrawler exists?" Toby said. "So that means you can quit chasing fantasies and maybe we work this case like a normal murder?" He asked. Anything to get away from this pale hunter.
"Not necessarily. I said a demon was possible. That's enough to treat this case like a Black file." Lautrec answered. "The probability is too high compared to regular murder. Roslyn did say all of their vital fluids were drained, not just their blood. Am I correct?"
"The coroner's report listed all fluids, yes. The body was described as dry and cracking with severe desiccation. The murder itself took place only a few hours before the body was found."
"Then the probability is very high that this was supernatural." The vampire answered.
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