The Scottsville Vampire Invasion

Chapter 1

Pulling my police cruiser to the side of the road, I look out on the dark, open field and see the illuminations of flashlights crisscrossing each other. I turn the car off, take a deep breath, reach over to the passenger's seat, pick up my flashlight and open the door. My feet land on the highway's gravel shoulder. A gust of wind picks up some of the snow lying on the highway and drops it on the back of my neck. I straighten out and try to shake it free. I compose myself, turn on the flashlight, walk across the steep embankment and onto the frozen earth.

Heading across the field, I alternate between pointing the flashlight straight ahead or down on the uneven ground. It starts to blink. Damn, I need new batteries. I turn and look back at the cruiser, which is now about fifty yards away. I bang the flashlight against my hand. It sputters a few times and comes back to full strength.

I get to the outer edge of the field and arrive at the congregation standing in a semi-circle.

"Fellas, what do we got?" I ask.

All of the flashlights point to the ground. I also point mine down and run it up the body lying in front of us. I start with the feet, then legs and then torso when my flashlight goes off. I bang it against my hand and continue up. I stop and stare. "What's that on her neck?" I ask.

"Looks like that's the cause of death," says Josh, who is my only dependable officer on the force. He's short, with a potbelly and a hound dog face. He has a five o'clock shadow that lasts twenty four hours a day. We've known each other since high school. I was the quarterback and he played running back, wide receiver, safety and field goal kicker. He's the same way on the force. He can do it all, and I depend on him more than anyone else.

I shine my flashlight on her neck. It has a large gaping hole on the side. I scan the rest of the area near her body and ask, "Where's the blood?"

"We were wondering the same thing," one of the officers says.

I scan the rest of the body. Her arm is handcuffed to an old fence post. I lean on my knee right next to the victim's neck. The wet snow penetrates my pant leg. I scan the body again with my flashlight and look at her skin, which is pale white. I get close to the wound on the neck and examine it. It looks like someone or something took a chunk out of it right at the jugular vein. It's not a knife wound. Could she have been attacked by an animal? It looks like someone brought her out here, cuffed her to the fence and sicked a Pitt bull, or some other type of powerful animal, which bit her at the exact right spot to kill her. Bizarre but it makes sense. But that leaves two questions, of course: Who did it and where is the blood?

I scan the flashlight all around the body. There are a line of tire tracks that lead from the road out to a few feet from the body. At the end of the tracks there is a disturbance in the snow and then there is the body. Someone took her out here and there was a struggle; they got her under control, chained her to the fence and then they killed her.

"You have an ID?" I ask.

"Yeah, Chief it's Jenn."

"From the Corner?"

"Yup."

I put the light directly on her face. I haven't seen Jenn in several months. She's put on weight and cut her hair.

"Shit, her mother came into the office two days ago. Said she was worried about what she's been up to at the Corner. Damn, I meant to reach out her. I just didn't have time." I say.

One of the officers, Allen, says to Mark, "What do you say the lunch special is at The Corner?"

"A beer, burger and blow job. All for 9.99." The crowd all laughs.