Vampire (part I)

So far I've talked about zombies, aliens, and altered humans.

Now it's time for the vampires.

Don't be disappointed, but I've never dealt with one, so I only know what happened to me at the time I was in the human alteration beta training.

Very little is known about them. They existed en masse in the fifteenth century, but they were hunted inordinately, which led them to the brink of extinction. I am not sure if they still exist, but they are still on SAD's list of ten dangerous races

As zombies, vampires feed on human flesh. With the difference that they eat less, which makes easier not to draw attention to themselves in this regard, since with only the death of a single person can they eat several meals if the freezer is large enough.

I said the differences between zombies or aliens and ordinary humans were basically subtle, but that's not the case with vampires: there are three easy ways to identify a vampire among us:

One: Look at its back. The legend is that these creatures used to have large wings which allowed them to fly, but since this difference is very glaring, if they wanted to live together with humans unnoticed they had to hide their wings all the time. The evolutionary process then resulted in their wings now being withered and dysfunctional. Vampires can no longer fly, but the wings are still there. They will usually try to hide in thick clothes, but if you can see your bare back in any way, you will notice the difference. The pair of wings is misshapen and can often be mixed with the skin, trying to get out of the body while staying inside, as a birth deficiency.

Two: look at its teeth. Their canine teeth are much longer and sharper than human's. I know that size varies from person to person, but in vampires the size is overstated. No one would have teeth that size. So to check whether a suspicious character is a vampire or not just wait for it to open its mouth..

Three: Stay close to him for about five minutes. Just like a vegetarian, a vampire won't be able to spend much time without revealing its quality to everyone around him. 'Hey, did you know I'm secretly a vampire?' It looks like they're proud to be a freak. Everyone who knows them personally knows their nature. So as I said, to check whether a suspicious character is a vampire, just wait for it to open its mouth.

No wonder they reached the border of extinction.

Fighting one of these can be a bad idea. Its whole body structure is superior compared to the human: the muscles are more powerful, the bones firmer, the flesh harder. Fighting a vampire is the same as fighting someone who uses indarra all the time without wasting energy.

Aside from that, vampires have no physical particularity. They are basically humans with the difference that they are stronger and cannibalistic. This way, to kill a vampire you just have to deal it a lethal blow considering his body structure equivalent to human. But remember that just firing a bullet in its heart may not be lethal, as the hardness of the body can make the bullet not penetrate the skin and therefore not reach the destination.

I'm telling all that more for the sake completeness, since these creatures are probably extinct in the modern age. If they exist they are certainly not here in Sproustown. But it turns out that if I really want to introduce all ten races eventually I will have to talk about these abominable beings.

Back to reality, my extended weekend with Jane was a terror.

When I came back on Saturday morning she yelled at me waking the whole neighborhood and managed to break the door latch when she slammed it.

Later in the afternoon I called a door expert to change the latch and Jane had to leave. I also wanted to go to the Johnson's house to see if I could get any clues as to where the envelope had been taken from, even if Chapman was in charge. But the damn locksmith would never come and I had to keep waiting inside.

I had the idea to call Ewalyn and ask her to find out things in Little Quarry, explaining the situation. The conversation went something like this:

"Couldn't you see if you can find any clues on the envelope in my place? I'm stuck here at home."

"But isn't Agent Chapman already taking care of this?"

"You see ... I kind of wanted to see this for myself."

"I understand. I was wondering about that too. Why don't we go together?"

"But I need to wait for the locksmith..."

"You're exaggerating. I'm sure he'll be there soon. Know what? Why don't I go to your house and wait for the repairman with you, and then we leave."

And thus Ewalyn came home and so we went. Arriving in Little Quarry I had the impression I felt the alien's ductu again, but it was just impression. We searched the whole area and found nothing. No trace of the origin of the envelope. And later in the evening I took Ewalyn to the Fire Grill near the highway, since she had done so much for me.

Wanna guess? Back home, I had to listen to more rubbish.

At least Jane didn't break the door that time.

The next day passed without anything happening, and Jane kept complaining all the time about me never taking her out anymore. Until I stopped and asked, "Okay, so where are we going?" She frowned as usual and didn't want to leave at all.

The first half of Monday was also obnoxious. I arranged my mess in the morning and in the afternoon I got some bad news. The phone rang and I answered. It was Jackson from the head office. He introduced the problem. It happened around two o'clock in the afternoon.

"What? They came in? Is Crane...? Hang on. I'll be right there."

Apparently SAD's building had been broken into. Crane got beaten and was in bed.

I drove there as fast I could.

Since Crane didn't have a common body she couldn't be hospitalized so she was being kept under the care of the head office. The medical block was in the back building of SAD's complex, above where the support office is. Once there, Jackson greeted me. He led me into the room where Crane was being treated.

"What happened?"

"There were three invaders who had weird skills. The camera caught them climbing up the side of the building to the office window, from where they entered. Then the watchman raised the alarm and we started to come. By the time we got there, everything was thrown up and Captain Harmon's office door was broken. Rubens and I went in to inspect the room and only caught a glimpse of two of them jumping out the window. One was carrying the other. They were very fast. Fast like you."

"And what did they want?"

"I don't know, sir. Only the central room and Captain Harmon's were messed up. I saw nothing missing."

They probably stole that damn invitation.

"What about Crane?"

The wounds aren't the best, but from what Jenna tells her she'll heal in about three days. She just recovered consciousness, so we didn't ask many questions.

"I see."

After walking a long corridor with a strong smell of fermol, we reached the operating room. It was separated from the corridor by a glass door. The room was small and Crane was inside.

"Lieutenant? You're not allowed to smoke here." The nurse in charge advertised.

"I know, Jenna. I know," I crumpled my cigarette and threw it in the trash, "is she awake?"

"Yes. But she needs rest. Be brief."

Leaving Jenna and Jackson behind, I opened the door and went in.

"Crane! God, you look awful."

She did receive a very good punch of indarra in the face. That was remarkebly visible.

"Sir... Sorry... They took the envelope."

As I suspected.

"There were three of them. It wasn't your fault... I should have ignored my damn day off."

She smiled briefly.

They came so suddenly. I felt the ductu only when they already had entered the window. Then we fought... I was nervous... I made a silly mistake. When one of them went to get the envelope and I attacked him from behind with my hands. He looked desperate and focused on finding the envelope so I thought he was distracted.

"Then he punched your face?"

"He undid the skin. It dissolved. It was a strange thing. A purple octopus-like animal, but with several pointed tentacles all over its body. There were black balls between the tentacles. It also smelled weird."

"It was an Euphorbe"

"Yes. The capn' told me."

"Sarah? Is she here?"

"She was. She went to the office just now. God... A good cop would have attacked him from behind pointing a gun," she smiled, "sorry... It didn't even occur to me back then."

"Don't worry too much about that. You were alone. There's nothing you could've done."

What to say at these times? Happens. What's done is done. You can have whatever training you can, but when in combat you will only really be able to practice what you have been taught if you are stable. The excitement at training time and combat time is totally different. It happens to the best of us.

Crane and I exchanged a few more soft words then I decided to say goodbye, because I didn't want to tire her too much. I also still wanted to see what Sarah was doing there:

"Just came to see if you were all right. Rest. You deserve it."

Crane nodded. I walked to the door and left. Jenna and Jackson were still in the doorway. I closed the door again.

"You sure she'll get better in such a short time?"

"She uses sane while she sleeps. The phisiology is different from yours."

"Ok. I leave her to you."

Jackson was also past his office hours, he was only still there because of all the commotion, so he decided to accompany me to SAD's office in the front building.

We crossed the courtyard and parking lot, took the elevator, and climbed to the scene of the incident: the reception room. Sarah was standing there staring at the door of her living room, visibly shattered.

"Sarah...?"

She turned to me slowly.

"Oh ... Good day, Lieutenant Dotson. And soldier Heiser." Heiser was Jackson's family name.

"Not so good after all... Did they fix the table? I heard it was tossed on the floor."

"They arranged it a while ago."

I looked around the room. Although it was tidy, traces of the fight were still there. Especially at Sarah's office door, which was blown up. There was also a bloodstain on the left wall and several other stains on the right one.

"Look." Sarah pointed to the spots on the right. I went to them and looked closely. They were many. A lot actually. Someone really took a beat there. Jackson asked:

"Lieutenant, sir...? If it was a one-to-one fight between an er... One of 'you'... Does that mean the suspect must have got beat a lot? I mean... If Crane's like that, then shouldn't the suspect be even worse?"

"Human indarra works like this, Jackson: It has three essential applications: the obvious one, to increase the power of your blows, the speed application, mostly used to get enough thrust to make your body jump farther and run faster. and finally self-defense. Strength. Speed. Defense. These are the three essential applications of indarra for a paranormal being who wants to survive from struggles."

I reached into my pocket for cigarettes then proceeded:

"The use of defense depends a lot on the skill of the user. We need to use it on our own body at the exact moment we get a very strong impact, such as someone else's indarra's blow. If I realize I am going to take a right-hand shot, I should calculate the right moment and force my body to the opposite side at the moment of impact, so as to minimize the damage of the attack on me. This concept is used by professional wrestlers, accustomed to getting punched in the face. And that requires a lot of training, Jackson. Also because when someone uses indarra in a right blow, most of the time not only aims to increase the power, but also the speed of the attack."

I lit the cigarette. Sarah and Jackson were just looking at my direction.

"Thus, self-defense application can be seen as a mandatory finesse, which everyone should take time to learn, at least to some extent. And using this finesse requires considerable mental state. The user must be fully aware of his actions or he will not be able to defend himself in time. If Crane hadn'tbeen in a good mental state during the fight, she could have received the full impact of the punch, which would cause that swelling she received. I believe it must have been that way."

"Uh, sure..." Jackson said not very convincingly.

"It's almost like that, Lieutenant Dotson," Sarah said. She coughed and continued, "according to the report, Secretary Crane had just been pierced by the thorns of an Euphorbe, who undid his thorns suddenly releasing her, leaving her body suspended in the air. Since she had been taken by surprise, every fighting pose she had taken to strike the thief effectively would have been lost on impact, which which I conclude that she was struggling to steady herself and endure the pain. She couldn't even physically use self defense there. Which led her to receive the full impact of the punch."

Jackson nodded his head as if following the reasoning.

"But Sarah... Did Crane tell you exactly how the accident happened? When was that?"

"I arrived just now, just like you, Lieutenant Dotson. Shortly after receiving the call. I asked her some questions then I came up here."

And I was afraid of tiring her with questions because I thought it was too early...

"Apparently Secretary Crane threw the table against one of them, pinning him to the wall, then she and the other fought with their bare hands whilethe other broke down my office door and took the envelope. Secretary Crane managed to win the side fight and tried to catch him by surprise, but then he swelled up and that happened. Long story short... They took the envelope."

"Yeah ... I heard."

Sarah gestured with her forefinger to follow her into her room. I did so. Inside, though the door had been broken open, nothing else was broken. Only all the papers which were originally in the closet had all been piled up on the floor.

"Nothing else was missing. They came specifically for the envelope. They were well informed about the location."

"You mean they are the ones who work for whoever wants to impersonate Arthur Cooper?"

Sarah inclined her head in consideration.

"Could be... Another point to consider would be coincidence. Big coincidence. Every day there are agents or investigators or someone else here, but this Monday was just about to coincide with the day detectives Meyers and Lowe were going to investigate Cooper's whereabouts and your day off, so only Secretary Crane would be here. Just as Detectives Lowe and Meyers leave, the thieves arrive, climb exactly on the third floor, and take the envelope. How is that saying? Being in the right place at the right time? We certainly have a hell of a coincidence here... A hell of a coincidence..."

I expelled more smoke from my cigarette, digesting the last implications of Sarah's finding. Jackson had also entered the room and was just following us with his eyes. Sarah cut the silence:

"Satisfactorily... Not all is bad news, Lieutenant Dotson. Detectives Meyers and Lowe found out where Arthur Cooper is."

"They did? And what about him? Did they go to his place?"

"Let me correct myself. They didn't exactly find him. I mean, they found out about him. Owns a farm in Rothershore. He is a retired politician. He was once a councilman for a small town called Valiant Craigburg, but when he moved to the capital to try to move up his political career, he was just one more candidate and never succeeded."

"Sounds like an unsuccessful retired loser."

"Politically, perhaps... But he owns a farm..." Sarah put a finger to her chin, slightly pointing her head up in ironic fashion. "Nothing related, but apparently once he was accused of illegal involvement with Deluxes... One more big coincidence for us. Of course, nothing has been proven about it."

"Rothershore heh? It's not far from Silverbay..."

"No. And it does not belong to SAD's district of order. Yesterday I was exchanging some calls with the Silverbay department and apparently they are having a mess about whether to let the operation proceed or whether they will move on to their city MPU department."

"MPU? Why MPU?"

Sarah went to the window. She answered without looking back:

"It's a case of disappearance in their point of view... Arthur Cooper is not there."

I threw my cigarrete away.

"Sarah... This is ridiculous! The case was considered special affair from the outset. The disappearance came from the case of the alien spotted at the Johnson house."

"No... Do not forget the preliminary analysis of their case is still natural death under uncertain circumstances. I even sent the alien's official report on Friday, but they are turning a blind eye."

"..."

The little captain shrugged and started out of the room, as if in farewell. While doing so she asked:

"Listen, Lieutenant Dotson... Answer me this: is it possible Margaret Johnson never met the man who was found dead beside her? Not only is the house's belongings all hers and there is no hint that he lived there, but no witnesses claim to have seen her with anyone in her daily life."

"I think it's hard to know for sure, isn't it...? Couldn't it just be a recent love affair she was hiding?"

She shook her head back and forth in consideration.

"Yeah ... It's likely ... In fact ... That must be it."

Sarah stretched and headed for the elevator again. Jackson and I followed. On the way she was telling us:

"What I'll do next is going to Silverbay in person. If they are looking me straight at my face they are not going to be able to continue with the relentless negatives. Either they give me an acceptable excuse or I'll claim the case back... I got here with the information and there's an alien here. Here, in my Sproustown, I don't want to miss it now because of low politics."

"Then you're gonna be away for a while?"

"That is likely to happen, Lieutenant Dotson. I have to get some paperwork done first, but I'll let you know when it's going to happen. I'll leave Sproustown in your hands."