Blame the Blood

Chapter 4

Alexa

I reached the village, and the faint smell of blood wafted down the old road. Uncle Ali's corner shop was closed, I'd only seen this happen once when his grandson was born..."Okay..." Nothing happens under Mr Ali's roof. He scares the locals so much that they wouldn't dare pocket a 1p sweet.I took out the power at the back of the building and walked inside. The small shop was wrecked! There was a huge puddle of blood and fur on the floor in front of the till. A smell overpowered the air, festering rotten vampires... Breath and a more faint smell of the same metallic liquid that was in Father's car and cleaning products.I bent down for a closer look at the blood. Half the hairs were long and black bristly, like a very mistreated dog, and the others a sandy blond, the shop assistant? I glanced up at the till area and climbed over, the shop assistant Joe's tobacco and rizlas were there. I headed back to the blood, dipped a finger and brought it to my face. It contained tobacco, and a lot of it, it was Joe's! My shoulders unclenched in relief, as I checked every isle for a trace of father. There were mild traces of him everywhere, but this was their closest shop for miles around. Square one. I collected a sample of the blood and thick black hair and stowed it away in my bum bag.Father was amazing at first aid. He would have patched Joe up on-site if he had been in the vicinity. I casually turned the power back on.I ventured into the pub. "Ginger beer gurl?" The ever-present stares of all the regular patrons greeted me as I surveyed. It was effectively a large thatched cottage with ceilings barely 2 meters tall. With a bar on one side and a roaring fire on the other, and a collection of wooden bar stools.No one looked worried or scared, most held their own with me like a staring contest. Innocent, but foul-tempered. "A ginger beer would be... nice," I say politely taking an empty stool. "Know anything about what happened at Ali's?""What's it to you girl? Looks to me like a badger got in, vicious things.""Oh, how so?""Lots of blood and nothing taken.""Blood loss?""Youre a weird gurl, you know that right?""A pretzel for an answer?""Hmm, weird but somehow a better baker than me nan. Deal. Boys, Joe lost too much blood?""There be a lot on that floor.""Nah, it was the claw marks and head they were worried abou'.""Badger attack, nasty way to go.""Thank you, gentlemen." I paid for the drink and fished out a large salt-encrusted Bavarian pretzel I had wrapped in one of father's special freshness wraps, and stepped out. Breathe. He hadn't been in there. And I know too well when I'm not welcome, alcohol just wasn't my thing.The community hall was empty. Same as the post office, grocer, and butcher which I expected at that time of day. A small village was the worst and best place to find someone. If no one had seen anything, then nothing had happened. A mystic void of information, the perfect home for father and I, but full of dead ends. I looked in every human-sized space, the phone boxes, mailboxes, in a... I'd half-dredged the duck pond by the time I realised I hadn't searched the house for clues!It was probably my memories messing with me, but his presence lingered all around their dark village main road. He'd not really disappeared? He doesn't get hurt? He couldn't be dead, could he? I had to have time to save him? Maybe he did deserve a holiday, without me? I was a good daughter, never a burden. So, why leave me alone like my birth parents? Perhaps because it was almost exam season...? He could have so many reasons for wanting to be on his own that I didn't want to think about, was I too much work? But... He doesn't get hurt? He couldn't be dead?What if the vampire at home had taken him, or done worse? I had to keep reminding myself of his well, un-vampirly non-death, in my world vampires once staked disintegrated into dust. I jumped back on my moped and immediately floored it, begging the thing not to explode, then to the universe. 'What do I do?' What was going to greet me when I got home?