How to Start a Fire

CH9 [Opening Old Books For The Sake Of Content]

Name: Selem Beharry (unverified)

Date of Birth: N/A

Age: 154 years (unverified)

Was found guilty for vampirism and murder in multiple cases (15. August 1912).

He would deprive his victims of their blood and proceed to decapitate them and cut off their limbs. Parts of the corpses are still missing. Must assume he consumed them.

I stared at the short description of his former guilt, my eyes widened, not wanting to look up at him. After a moment I decided to look at the next paper on the clipboard and ignore the general information. That has been more than 100 years ago. Maybe it was just outdated.

Name: Selem Beharry (unverified)

Date of Birth: N/A

Age: 257 years (unverified)

Cut up corpses were found in various apartments during the last week. All of them were decapitated and the rest of their body torn apart and found spread in the room. Main suspect for the cases is Selem Beharry.

I read it multiple times, just to make sure I didn't hallucinate this. Sure, I knew they all killed before. I knew they couldn't just have been born at the station and therefore never committed a crime- but this just sounded terrible.

"...Sorry, it's not a nice topic to discuss at the dinner table." Selem said, chuckling awkwardly.

"It really isn't..." I murmured, looking up for the first time. Selem wasn't smiling at me, he rather looked like he wanted to apologize. For what?

"I swear it wasn't me." His voice sounded awfully upset, as if he just wanted me to believe him, but I had no idea what to believe, it all kind of felt like a bomb had been dropped.

"I... I don't know... man..." I said, looking at his face because I seriously had no idea what to do. I was really overwhelmed.

"No... see, listen... it's not even the same thing..." He began, his voice lowered a little. "I already explained this to the humans who questioned me, but... I... I cut them up, okay? I cut. With knives. I barely even used brute force... They said the corpses now had been torn apart! Everyone said it would be the same thing but it... it's not... I left these people some dignity so they could die and rest, and tearing them apart is just awful!"

"...yeah..." I affirmed half-heartedly, not really seeing the difference, because you end up with a parted corpse either way.

"Besides, I ALWAYS cut at the same spots! Neck-shoulders-legs. They told me the corpses they found were just torn apart randomly! That's different!" He really seemed to want to assure me. I really wanted to believe him, but I still had to ask him all of these questions, and if I couldn't find any evidence for his innocence, I couldn't let him go, they would declare him guilty and lock him up, if not even kill him.

"What... why did you even do that back then?" I asked, my fingers clinging to the clipboard as if my life depended on it. He kind of scared me.

"To kill them. You know? So they don't rise." He explained, ruffling his hair again. "I didn't want to be responsible for an army of ghouls or a bunch of new vampires, I just wanted to stay sane! Back then there wasn't some... antidote or some shit to keep bitten humans dead, you had to either hope they don't rise or make sure they don't by tearing them apart or throwing them into lakes or... whatever. Not that most people cared, really."

"Why didn't you... throw them into a lake then?" I asked anxiously.

"Because there was no lake?! Perhaps??" He exclaimed suddenly, staring at me as if I was really slow in the head... which might have been true right there, I was scared and wanted to trust him, though objectively there wasn't a single reason to do so. I shrieked and went a little backwards in my chair, feeling how my heartbeat rose. Why did they pick me to interrogate? Out of all people who could deal with stressful situations they chose me, well knowing that I was awful with those. "I couldn't just kill someone in the city and then drag them to the next lake! Besides, if I had done that I would be sitting here now, too, right?? Everyone who cannot afford the antidotes throws the corpses into lakes! I'd be sitting here for every single one they find!"