Vampire Hunter: Corey Crowgarden's guide to killing vampires for fun and profit.

Lesson 2 Part 6

They carefully searched through house for the next couple of hours and retrieved a few new items.
They found a staff, a couple of wands and a sacrificial knife, and of course, the little silver box. The staff was in the basement leaning in a corner with a hockey stick. The wands were in a cup of pencils, all ashes now that were all on a crushed desk. The knife was on the fireplace with melted wax and the crushed parts of the clock, Bobby and Carrie's wedding gift.
They brought the items out to the trunk of the car.
"Are we going to go out to that pumphouse?" Carrie asked, stripping off her coveralls.
"No, I don't think that's a great idea," Bobby said.
Carrie cocked an eyebrow, "Why not?'
"Well, They've had a rough day. If they're in their hole they are probably locked down pretty tight."
"I suppose we would be too," she said. "I want to see them now though."
Bobby handed her the big bottle of water and she took a long draw from it.
"I know," he said rubbing a wet hand across his face and smearing the soot. "I just don't see it happening."
She turned at him and laughed. "You look like a racoon."
He smiled.
She looked just as dirty. The coveralls were black with ashes and soot. You would've thought they had already tried to burn them.
"There's probably a hose in the pig barn." he said.
"Yeah," she replied "and maybe we can figure out how to give them some food and water."
They went to the pig barn, a concrete, two story structure  with stalls on the ground floor and hay, obviously, in the hay loft.
The chicken coop looked good for water and it was easy enough to spread some chicken feed into the bins. They found the hose and refilled the buckets in the stalls from the door. The animals lie in their hay. After they had filled all the water troughs they carefully washed themselves in the cold water from the tap and wiped themselves down with some semi clean towels in the barn.
"I don't know about you," Bobby said, "but I'm starving."
"Lot's of potatoes," Carrie said. "and some bottles of coke in the fridge in the shop."
"No," he frowned, "drive in to Orangeville?"
"Is there anything near the Hilltop?"
"I think there is a truck stop just on the other side," he said.
"Maybe we can grab a bite there," she said.
They turned on the road and took a drive. She had put the knife, the wands and the staff in the trunk but held on to the small box. They slowed down and took a look at the Hilltop. No police cars, no lights on except for the lights by each of the rooms. They continued on to the truckstop down the road. At highway 9 the truckstop had a Tim Horton's and a series of 4 gas pumps. On the far side was a larger lot and two diesel pumps. The parking lot beyond was filled with trucks and loads going anyplace, but now resting. A kiosk was between them. One side of the Tim Hortons was a variety store selling all the things one might want or need on a lonesome road with miles to go until the next semblence of civilization.
They pulled up, parked and went in, turning away from the variety store and towards the restaurant. Each went to the washroom, to take care of some long overdue business and to do a proper job of washing.
Carrie came out and Bobby was still in line.
"Not much for real food left," Bobby said.
"Just some doughnuts and hot chocolate I guess," she nodded and picked out a spot where they could keep an eye on the car.
They settled down and had a gnaw at their food. Carrie hadn't realised just how hungry she was and the double chocolate doughnuts, although a little stale, went down really well.
Bobby wiped the crumbs of his own meal, two jelly filled powder doughnuts from his face and noticed that he was going to need to shave.
He looked at the watch on his wrist, and noticed the time. It was almost midnight.
Carrie was cradling the hot chocolate in both hands, enjoying the warmth on her fingers. While the daylight hours had been summer hot, the night had cooled off considerably.
"So," Bobby said, "What's the plan?"
"I don't really know. I'm sure that there is a lot of administrative stuff that will need to happen with the house. I just don't know if we have the authority to do any of it."
"I googled the process and there are a few things we can do," Bobby replied, "but you're right, not a lot."
"Like what?" she said, then took a sip from her hot chocolate.
"Well, this will generate a fire report, maybe an arson investigation too. If that happens they'll know someone went for a stroll around the house, but it doesn't mean anything. We will get the report tomorrow is my bet, probably a phone call and an email. Our only responsibility is to secure the place so no one does what we did."
"What about the animals?" and all those rotting potatoes she thought.
"If we don't feed them we can probably call the SPCA and explain the situation. Finding your sister is the key. Things get a lot less complicated if we can get a hold of them."
"Less complicated for us," she said.
"Well, yeah," he replied, "But it's not really our business, right? That's why we can't just take care of it because we don't have any authority. Not our circus."
She sighed.
"Listen," Bobby said, "I know we need to take care of this, but it seems like we are taking care of everyone, your mum, your dad, and now your sister. There is only so long we can do that."
"Bobby, I'm calling work tomorrow and asking for some time on compassionate grounds. I know I've only worked for the company for a little bit, but unless their are new projects I've done all the scheduling for the next few weeks. They only need me if someone cancels or flakes."
When you've got a B. Architecture but have no experiencing you can usually find a job somewhere in construction. Most of her job is coordinating tradesmen and materials, making sure neither are sitting idle too long. It helps when you aren't afraid to put on boots and a hard hat and go out to the site now and again. A lot of the job is about trust, knowing the foreman, knowing the suppliers and making sure everyone is on the same page. When the foremen, most of who are old enough to be her father or sometimes her fathers older brother showing up with the attitude 'how can I make your life easier' goes a long way.
"Okay," said Bobby, "I guess they can do without me for a couple of weeks. The nice thing about being unskilled. You're easily replaced."
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