The Madman of the Woods | ONC 2024 Shortlist | Vampire Romantasy | Supernatural

2 The Lumberyard Massacre

Josie had met another dead end. Following the lead that The Banshee was seen near the lumberyard, she'd gone to interview the workers, but all she found was a crew of four rugged men drunk off their asses, celebrating their payday with booze and joints.

"Terrible combination for their chosen trade," she muttered to herself. They were off the clock, but how would they get home? She shook her head. It wasn't her problem.

Two of them came out of their warehouse and whistled at her from behind, shouting, "Stay a while, sweetheart." She sped up while they laughed.

Gravel crunched under her boots, drowning the sounds of the night crickets. It was a pleasant evening, but she couldn't properly enjoy it. Not when she was nowhere closer to capturing The Banshee. After getting away from the view of the catcalling men, she sat in her car, dreading her empty-handed return home. She should have been used to her father's disappointment by now, but her insides still twisted at the thought. One day she would get the Banshee herself. One day she would give her father a reason to be proud.

"Not tonight, though," she said in resignation.

The Banshee wasn't actually a banshee. She was a cunning, old vampire. No one knew the extent of her powers or where she hid to avoid the consequences of breaking The Sup Treaty. Feeding on humans was allowed only when it was consensual. Killing them was absolutely not acceptable. Most vampires lived off animal blood and maintained civilized peace, but some of the old ones didn't care for the modern rules.

Those who encountered Banshee never lived to tell the tale—except Josie. She'd survived when she failed to capture her, and she continued failing every day that Banshee walked free. And she almost had her a few months prior. She could have cut her head clean off, but a moment of hesitation was enough for the vampire to flee.

"I'm not a killer," Josie said to herself. "I'll catch her and bring her to justice."

Though she knew she did the right thing, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. Who knew how many people Banshee had killed since then?

She was about to start the ignition when something huge fell on top of her car's hood. Her windshield cracked into a thousand interconnected shards, barely holding onto the frame. While her car horn blared at her, she stared in shock at the dark liquid smeared on the glass, looking oddly like blood.

"What the fuck had just happened?"

A bloodcurdling scream nearby woke her from her stupor. She scrambled to get out of the car. Her door was stuck, and she had to kick it open.

Once out, she found a body on top of her car hood and blood smeared all over. She looked up and around, wondering where it had come from. Before she could investigate, another scream broke the night. It came from the direction of the lumberyard warehouse where the workers were. Shit. Was it The Banshee?

Josie ran to her trunk and dug up her weapons, cursing herself for not being prepared, but she was interviewing normies. How could she have known that Banshee herself would visit the location? She strapped two guns to her chest, holstered a dagger to her belt, and gripped another in her right hand. She didn't know what creature she was about to encounter. It was better to be over-prepared.

"This is it," she gave herself a pep talk while quietly running toward the building. "This is what you've been training for. Banshee, you're mine."

Josie passed by another body while approaching the open door. She didn't inspect the wounds, but the blood on the neck confirmed she was dealing with a vampire.

And she was alone.

She gulped while her heart hammered in her chest. Even if she called for backup, it would be too late by the time the hunters arrived. She could only rely on herself. She gritted her teeth and peeked inside the building.