Investigation

"Alright, everyone. I will need you all to calm down. I understand that you are in mourning, but please, we will need you to be stable and sound while we interrogate you all regarding the murdered victims," Thorne eventually said, waving his hand to the crowd in an attempt to qwell down their intensity.

"Are you telling us to calm down?! How can you be so callous when we have just lost people we care about?!" An older looking woman named Hannah asked, her voice laced with frustration and resentment.

"When did the vampire corps become so cold hearted?! We've lost so many people and you honestly expect us to calm down?!" The man asked as well. His name was Raze, a man who looked to be in his thirties with messy black hair and bags under his eyes from lack of sleep.

Out of sheer frustration, he lunged forward and grabbed Thorne by his collar, drawing his face closer to his. The two men looked at each other eye to eye, with Thorne remaining unblinking as he stared at eyes comsumed with madness.

"If you don't get to the bottom of this case, I swear on my life, that I'll kill you myself. Mark my words." Raze threatened.

Thorne didn't respond to the threat. His gaze remained fixated on Raze's as he spoke. "And I swear that on my name and title, I will do everything in my power to bring the killers to justice. You have my word."

A few moments past, and the grip that Raze had on Thorne's collar began to loosen, until he eventually let go of the man and collapsed onto the floor, sobbing to himself.

"Why... did they have to take you away so soon?" He spoke softly.

'All these people have lost those they care about. I really hope we can get to the bottom of this case,' Dorcas thought to herself.

The noise the crowd was making gradually started to subside as the locals composed themselves and wiped off their tears. At the end of the day, they knew that simply lamenting about the situation wasn't going to change anything.

Seeing that the people had somewhat calmed down, Thorne ordered Dorcas to call the officers responsible for interrogations so that they could work together and uncover some leads regarding the case.

She did as told and not long after, a couple other police officers had come forward. She relayed the necessary information to the officers, and they nodded their heads and approached the crowd to begin questioning.

Thorne then walked to the side to meet up with Dorcas to tell her something.

"Mobilize the other officers and ensure that no one is allowed to move in or out of town while this case is being investigated. I don't want our murderer running away after creating such a mess," Thorne whispered into her ear.

"Understood, sir," she replied, and with that, the head officer walked back into his office.

"Sir, can you tell us where your daughter was last seen before the incident?" One of the investigators asked. His name was Marcus Shawn, a man who appeared to be in his mid thirties with short brown hair and a full beard on his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notebook and a pen, ready to record any useful information he could get from Raze.

"My daughter, she was at home almost throughout out the previous day. Crimson day is coming soon, you see, and after a period of preparations and bargain shopping, she decided that she would spend the day at home," Raze started off. "However, later that night, she told me that she needed to go visit her friend for something important. I saw that there was no reason for me to stop her, so I allowed her to go since she said that she'd be back in an hour.

"I stayed up all night waiting for her. At one point her younger brother woke up from sleep and passed by the living room on his way to the bathroom, only for him to take a glance and see me still awake with a worried look. He asked me why was I still awake, but I lied and said that I couldn't sleep."

After hearing what Raze had to say, Marcus couldn't help but shake his head and asked the man to be more specific and give information that was actually useful.

"Mr Raze, I understand that the event is a tragic one, but please, we need crucial intel so we can get to the bottom of this case," he said, trying to sound reasonable without disregarding the latter's feelings.

"There isn't really much useful information I can give you, other than the name of the my daughter's friend who she went to visit the previous night. Her name is Cassandra Cassan. Maybe you can get more information if you go and interrogate her," Raze replied back.

Marcus made a note of the girl's name before asking Raze for the girl's address.

"Here, please write down the girl's address on this notebook. Once we are done interrogating everyone here, we will begin to involve others in this case," he said, stretching out his hand.

"Please officer, all I want is for my daughter's murderer to be punished," Raze said as he wrote down the girl's address and handed the notebook back to Marcus.

'It's good to see that the people are cooperating with us,' Dorcas thought to herself. Once everyone present had been thoroughly questioned, they were all asked to head back to their respective activities of the day now that the pressing matter had been left in the hands of the authorities.

"What did you manage to get from the others?" Marcus asked as he walked closer to the three other officers that had been tasked with the case. He opened his notebook to show then what he had recorded while the others did the same.

"Mrs Hannah talked about her daughter that was murdered a day before this incident. She said something similar to what Mr Raze told you, that her daughter was out late in the night to meet with some of her friends to have a party at her friend's house, only for her to find her daughter's body lying on the streets the next day," another officer replied, his name was James Dawn, a man whose appearance made him look like he was in his early thirties with curly black hair and a short beard.

"All of these statements seem to be connected through the fact that all these victims were out and about during a time when others were indoors. I assume that if there were eyewitness during the mass murder, then they would have made an appearance along with the crowd here today, but just because that's not the case, we should still do our part to question those who are connected to the victims," another one of the four said. His name was Richard Dawn, the elder brother of James Dawn. He had mid length black hair and a mustache bit without a beard.

"But isn't it strange that all ten bodies were placed together in one particular place? It's almost like whoever did it was trying to send some sort of message?" The forth officer asked. His name was Henry Grey, a young man who looked to be in his mid twenties with short black hair. He was the newest recruit in the investigation branch of the police station, someone who wished to make a difference in the world just like other dreamers his age.

"That is strange? But who would the murderer be trying to send a message to, and why? I understand that life can be quite unforgiving, but it's been this way since the beginning of our society," Marcus added.

"Perhaps this is the work of one of the rogue organizations going against the settlement. Although I can't be certain since the security of the settlement is quite intense. It would take a miracle for even their leaders to make their way into this country," Richard said.

"I agree. This doesn't seem to be their handwork. We would need to go out and see what other information we can get from the townspeople," James said, and the others nodded in agreement as the turned to face their superior to ask for her permission before heading out of the station.

All four of them stepped out of the station and went their separate ways to search for and question the people who were mentioned by the victims' relatives, meanwhile, Ezeikel had decided that he would head back home early, having found no luck as usual from his search.

'Damn it. This life just hates my guts. I can't seem to find a job, and I'm sure dad won't let me have peace in that house if I go back there without any good news, but then again, what other choice do I have? It's not like I have the resources to get my own living space,' he thought to himself as he began the journey back home with reluctance, his gaze filled with defeat as he walked past people of various ages scurrying about the busy streets.