Vampiria: A Gender-Bending Vampire Story

12 - I Make a Career as a Gender-Bending Detective

It was Friday, the day before I was to visit Helsing HQ, and as soon as I arrived at school, I knew it was going to be the longest day of my life. My mission became apparent when I saw that an ambulance was pulled into the parking lot. Police surrounded the school and medics were carrying a woman on a stretcher. A colorless hand fell from the covers, fingernails painted with a playful pink.

Nurse Emily Edwards was found dead just as the school bell rang, drained of blood in her office. Chad Houlihan was the one to find the body after being injured during an early morning football practice. He looked visibly scarred when I saw him sitting on the front steps to our school.

'This isn't right,' he muttered. 'Why are so many people dying?'

I didn't have an answer for him. I patted him on the shoulder and helped him up.

'It's not your fault,' I said. 'I'm sorry you had to be the one to find the body.'

He sniffled. 'Me too.'

Me and another teacher walked him to the counsellor's office. I returned to my homeroom. Walt and Ramone were waiting for me, but so was Laurel. I didn't know who to go to.

Laurel motioned for me to see my friends first, so I complied.

'This is madness,' Walt said. 'We're all being picked off one by one.'

'Someone needs to do something,' Ramone whispered.

'Don't try to be the hero,' I said. 'The Valentine Stalker is dangerous, I don't want to see one of my friends dead because of his own stupidity.'

'The same goes for you,' Walt said. 'You have a habit of taking on more responsibility than you need. If you're thinking of investigating, I want in.'

Ramone nodded.

I assured them I wasn't and tried by best to lie my way through the rest of the conversation. I promised myself that by day's end I would catch the Valentine Stalker. I felt like the only one who had the power to fulfill that promise.

They let school continue as normal. The people of Stoker are used to tragedy, the government doesn't like to let it get in the way of our education. We weren't doing much learning for the rest of the day, none of the teachers were too keen on doing much since their colleague was dead. That left ample time for me and Laurel to investigate. We skipped class and met inside a storage closet on the second floor.

'You think they're at this school now?' she exclaimed.

I nodded. 'Remember, I don't think the vampire responsible for these killings is the same that killed all of those graduates. This killer is close-by, they know the school and the staff. What we're missing is the why. Once we figure out a pattern for the victims, we can better theorize a suspect.'

'Wow,' she said. 'You've got a detective's eye.'

I shrugged. 'I read a lot of Nancy Drew growing up.'

'Nancy Drew over the Hardy Boys, if that isn't a sign that you're meant to be a girl-'

'Shut up! I read a lot of Hardy Boys novels as well!' That was a lie, but I wasn't going to tell her.

Laurel returned to a serious tone. 'The first victim was Nurse Powell, killed the same night I bit you. The next was Ms. Hampford, and now Nurse Edwards. The only connection I can think of is that they're all females with blonde hair.'

'Their age varies as well,' I noted. 'Nurse Powell was almost seventy while Ms. Hampford and Nurse Edwards were in mid-to-early thirties. Why them?'

A lightbulb went off in Laurel's head. 'I just thought of something. The night Nurse Powell died, it was you, me, and Chad forced to clean-up the gym. Chad locked us in. His friends found Ms. Hampford's body and he found Nurse Edward's body. I think we found our connection!'