Blud

Part 2: Liam

"You son of a-" the vampire spits blood out of his mouth and it drips down his chin and he gasps, "-bitch. I'll gut you." Considering the fact that he is tied up with silver infused chains, I'm not threatened. He struggles against them, his eyes getting heavy with sleep from the injection I just pushed into his neck containing a mixture of herbs such as white sage and wolfsbane. The Vampire Task Force, or VTF, has few but effective ways of subduing a vampire. Along with the tranquilizing mixture, called darts, and silver chains, us human soldiers are armed with guns that shoot silver bullets encasing a glass bubble of the same tranquilizing mixture. I haven't had to use that on this vampire, because he was in the middle of feeding on a human in the ally and I was able to surprise him. I helped the girl escape before calling for backup to come take this dirty bloodsucker to the vampire holding facility.

"Shhhh, just take a little nap," I mutter as I work on patting him down, emptying his pockets onto the ground. We are in the middle of the sidewalk on the dark street, the late night population of drunks and vampires thinning out as the morning creeps in. I drop a bag of white powder and a lighter on the ground, followed by some pieces of paper from his pants pockets, and his jacket pocket holds three vials of a thin red liquid. Thinner than Blud and a much darker shade of red.

"Ooooh buddy, you just moved up in your charges." I chuckle and slide the human blood vials into the front pocket of my bullet proof vest, zipping it shut.

"You're a dead man, blood-bag," the vampire breathes, his head lulling to the side as he is rendered unconscious.

"Finally," I say, "Peace and quiet." I kick the rest of his belongings into the gutter and grab my snippers from my side pocket. Lifting his chin with my thumb, I use my index finger to open his mouth and expose his two inhumanly sharp canines. I bring the snippers to the tips of the teeth and snap them off with two quick motions, letting the little white pieces fall onto his shirt before I put my snippers away.

"Parasite." I mumble. I wipe my hand on my pants and stand up as a dark blue police truck speeds around the corner and rocks to a stop on the curb. Two officers get out and walk toward me, both looking at the vamp on the ground.

"Nice work, Liam. You apprehended him by yourself?" The taller officer, my partner Benny, asks, raising his eyebrows at me. I nod and he shakes his head. "You know we're not supposed to do that. You could get yourself into a sticky situation not waiting for backup." I roll my eyes at him.

"Well if I waited for your sorry ass every time I came across a vampire doing illegal shit, I'd never catch any." He shoves me playfully and walks over to the vampire, kicking his foot with his boot.

"Let's get him loaded up. I'm starving and that little diner down the road from headquarters is having a special on pie this morning." Him and the other officer, who I'm not familiar with, each loop an arm under the vamp's shoulders and I take his feet. We toss him into the back of the truck and slam the tailgate shut, climbing in the cab and pulling away from the curb.

At the station, the three of us haul the vamp into the lobby, passing the clerks desk and shuffling straight to the holding cells. I nod and smile at the man, greeting him with a, "Hey Clifford!" The deputy stands up and peaks over the desk at us, smirking at the sleeping beauty. He hustles around and meets us at an empty cell, fumbling with a large ring of keys before finding the correct one and sliding it into the lock. We dump the vampire on the cement floor and leave him there, the deputy latching the barred door shut. The bars are a mixture of iron and silver, specifically designed with vampires in mind. Yeah, we still get plenty of human criminals, but we like to be prepared and have plenty of room for the others.

"So what's your name?" I lean against the clerk's desk and cross my arms, looking at the quiet officer.

"Officer Brady, sir. Training this month." He announces with false confidence. You can see in his eyes he's way out of his comfort zone here.