Bite Shift

20

Have you ever seen one of those movies where someone says something funny or shocking and the other person spits out what they are drinking? I always thought it was absurd.... until that night. That was exactly what I did when the "Lord of Pittsburgh" told me I needed to hunt down the monster that tried to rip me apart 24 hours prior.

"Are you nuts?!"

I mean, what other response is there for a request like that??

Sorin did not look like he was nuts or amused. He handed me the same handkerchief from before and I wiped the blood off of my mouth.

"I can assure you, I am not," he said and that power rolled over me again.

"I'm sorry," it was Rhys' turn to look shocked. "Don't you have very big men to go out and do that? Why are you asking us? Do you know what it is? How to kill it? If so, why make us?"

"I will explain to you all that I know. Make no mistake, however, this is not up for negotiation." He leaned back in his chair, bringing the outside of his left lower leg to rest on the top of his right thigh. He rolled the blood around in the glass.

"You are not the first victim, Kate. You are just the only one to survive. You are, in fact, the 5th to be attacked in the last 8 months. Their bodies were all found in different surrounding cities, having been ripped apart and unrecognizable. The police have not been able to identify the victims but I have many eyes in the city and know each one. The victims are all from Pittsburgh, all women and all between 25-40 years of age. I do not know what it is. I have a few suspicions. Some are whispering that it is a werewolf but I have not seen or heard of one in many years. Some think is it a vampire who has lost control. Still others suspect it is a human with the affinity for killing. All I know is that the humans will begin to catch on to the killings and start to look for answers. Their hunt for a monster to blame puts every vampire in this city at risk. I want it stopped before anyone else suffers."

"That's great. Why us?" I wasn't keeping quiet, or worrying about upsetting him anymore. "I have been a vampire for a day. I don't think I am the person for the job. Last time I checked, Rhys wasn't a monster hunter or detective, either."

"Two reasons. First, you survived the attack. The attacker will be quite taken aback to see you alive and well. He will likely approach you in some way to see how he went wrong. Second, your little hospital is the hunting ground. Two of the victims were ladies of the night that worked the block around your place of employment. They were killed three and a half months apart. The third was a woman who had been in your emergency room around 10pm with a sprained ankle. She was killed not long after leaving there, only two months after the second victim. The last was EMS. She finished her shift, parked in your parking lot. She was seen walking to her car just after 11pm and was never seen again. Her coworkers believe she finally ran off to Florida like she had been saying she would. That was six weeks after the patient. Then, there's you, a nurse attacked just outside the hospital, a month later. Not only is the killer waiting less time between kills, he is getting bolder. You were only feet from the building and anyone could have seen him."

I closed my eyes and laid my head back against the window. I heard music and laughter outside. It felt like it was a million miles away. Those lucky bastards get to enjoy a vampire life of being sexy and young forever. I get to be a vampire for a day and then track down a monster who probably wants to try to kill be again as soon as possible. Yep, sounds like my luck, alright.

"That was a lot to unpack right there. Let me start with... werewolves are real, too?!?"

There was silence and then both men started to laugh. I sat up and looked at the boys with frustration. The anger did last long, as the hilarity wore off and they collected themselves.