Blood Commentaries

The Questioning

Tick. Tick. Tick. 

The clock on the wall was absurdly loud in the silence of the police station. 

Drew looked so sickly it scared Danny almost as much as the body. 

"Daniel, would you come with me now?" An officer snapped Danny out of his trance. 

"Course."

He followed the officer to a room with nothing but a table. They sat. 

"So tell me what exactly happened when you came across the body," The officer said. 

Danny's mouth was dry as he remembered. He couldn't tell them about the acid. 

"We were just having some fun in the woods."

"What kind of fun?"

"We were checking out our old forts. We had this set up out there when we were kids you know, we called it Kurtistown after our friend Kurtis."

"Right. And how did you find the body?"

"Cody and Noel were just like chasing each other and they saw it I think. One of them screamed so we all came to see what was wrong."

"Did you know Edward?"

"A little bit, yeah. I played him in lacrosse a few times and I saw him at a party once."

"When was this party?" 

"Last weekend I think."

"And where was it?"

"Does that matter?"

"We just like to get as much info as possible."

Danny thought for a moment about whether Noel would like him telling the cops he was having a party.

"I don't know, some kids house. Just like a mutual friend's friend, you know?"

"Right. And was Edward partaking in any drug use or doing anything out of the ordinary?"

Danny's heart rate picked up as he remembered the kiss, and walking in on Edward and Drew...

"He flirted with me for a bit and he tried to kiss me. I smelled alcohol on his breath. And a little while later I walked in on him sleeping with someone else."

The officer jotted a couple things down.

"And do you happen to know who this other person was?"

Danny thought about what Drew would want him to say. It was technically outing him, but Drew might know where Edward went after that. Or who he was talking to that seemed suspicious at the party. That is if he was even killed by a person. It looked like an animal had bitten him or something. 

"It was Drew." 

"Alright, I think that's all we need to know. Thank you Daniel, you're free to go." He stood and Danny followed suit. 

"Do you think it was a person that killed him?" Danny asked as they were walking to the door.

The officer glanced at him wearily. 

"I'm not really authorized to say," he said, "But the body was entirely drained of blood. I ain't know no animal capable of doing that. 

Danny froze. 

"I have more to tell you, then." He said. 

The officer looked at him intensly and gestured for him to come back to the table. 

"In those same woods at a party a few weeks ago, I was walking and trying to look for the forts on my own. And someone attacked me. They pinned me to the ground and I thought they bit my neck or something, or stuck something in my neck. I stabbed them with my... keys and took off back toward the house. I don't know who it was but they left me with two gashes in my neck. I actually still have the scar." 

He pointed to his neck. 

"The only reason I didn't report it was because I thought it was a prank. Like someone was trying to pretend to be a vampire or something. But Edward was in those same woods. And he had a gash in his neck except it was a lot bigger and it looks like he didn't have anything to stab his attacker with. And I don't know. Maybe it's some vampire wannabe serial killer. I don't know."

The officer was scribbling furiously on his notepad. 

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We're going to need a few photographs of your wound."

"Sure."

They made their way back out to the lobby where the other boys were waiting. Everyone looked a little petrified. 

The officer said something to one of his associates. 

"Daniel could you follow me?" She said.  He followed. Drew raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. 

She led him into another room, this time with a photographer present. She examined his neck and asked him to tilt his head to the side. He heard a few clicks from the camera. 

"Alright, you're all done. Keep in touch." 

He wearily made his way back to the lobby. 

When the boys were all back in the car, everyone was quiet. Finally Noel asked, "What did that lady cop need from you?"

Danny hesitated. 

"She wanted pictures of my neck."

"Why?" Drew asked. 

"Because they think my attacker might be the same one that killed Edward."

"You mean they don't think it was an animal?" Kurtis asked. Fear laced his voice. 

"I guess not," said Danny. 

"So having a nicotine addiction saved your life." Cody said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work as the reality settled in with the group.