Echoes of the Void

The Vampire Skull - 6. Chasing Neon

Luke stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black biker jacket and headed straight across the bridge into Old Dawn. This was simply another day at work for him, another vampire for him to hunt down. Luke headed across Old Dawn towards an old back alley between two derelict brick houses. An old neon sign flickered inconsistently even though it was morning as Luke stepped inside the alley.

"Detective Walker, it would be better if we did this during the night, would it not?" Luke clicked his tongue as he made eyes with a rather short grey-haired woman.

"Luke Dellinger, what difference does it make? You look just as sour whether it's night or day," she chuckled before her face turned grim, "But in all seriousness, I might have something for you, and I don't think it can wait."

Luke placed a finger on his forehead, "Fine, but don't waste my time. Give me the information I need."

"There's a new nightclub downtown, V, and after doing some digging I found it belongs to a Valentine. No surprise there. We have received quite a few reports of fog-minded people outside of or in the area around the club. You know what that means right?" Detective Walker raised an eyebrow and glanced at Luke.

"It means there is a high likelihood that the nightclub could be catering to vampires," Luke muttered as he pressed his temples.

He knew exactly what this meant, being fog-minded meant a vampire's bite. It made people lose all sense of time and place as if a mist was cast around their mind. They would wander aimlessly until they regained themselves, showing no other signs of being bitten. Reckless vampires, Luke hated them all.

"I trust you'll look into it. This is more the area of The Geirmund than the police anyway," Detective Walker remarked as she adjusted her dark grey coat and started walking out of the alley.

"Yes, The Geirmund will take care of this. At least I will," Luke mumbled.

He glanced down at his black glove and his eyes darkened.  Killing vampires was all that mattered. That was what The Geirmund was for, right? Hunting vampires and other creatures that posed a threat to humans, though Luke didn't care about the other creatures. He only wanted to hunt vampires. It was personal.

Luke tensed his shoulders as he left the back alley and the flickering neon light behind. There was no need to hold back, these were the worst kinds of vampires. Luke clenched his fists with anger, vampires who thought they could do whatever they wanted without a care.

He soon found himself downtown, gazing up at the giant pink neon V of the nightclub, bright enough to be visible even during the day.

Luke clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath, "What an ugly sight."

He placed his hand on the large door, a hesitant moment as he quickly made a plan in his mind. He needed to do a spell first, one to see if there were any vampires there at that moment. He could do it in the bathroom, it would cover the area surrounding the nightclub as well. Luke was confident with his magic, it never failed him. He was more talented than any of The Geirmund in Dawn right now.

Luke pushed the door open, a muscular man stood inside, a bouncer. Luke could hear the faint music of the club now, even though it was almost noon the club was open. This was Dawn, after all, nothing ever closed. The bouncer opened the next door for Luke, the music grew louder. He stepped inside, pushing his red hair behind one ear, his pale complexion made his hair stand out even more. Luke's face remained monotonous, not revealing any emotion or reaction. He was here to get a job done.

People were dancing and drinking as if it was midnight; the lights were so dim it might as well have been. Luke clicked his tongue, he hated clubs; people were so pushy. He didn't want to deal with all this, so he swiftly made his way into the bathroom. It was quiet and neon-lit as if he had entered a different world altogether. The music couldn't even be heard from in there. Yet Luke could hear something else, a faint sound from one of the bathroom stalls. He closed his eyes for a moment and he knew, it was a vampire.

"I just got here and it's already time for action. I suppose this place is crawling with them. This is perfect," Luke mumbled coldly, his eyes set on that bathroom stall door.