The Delacours: Part Deux

forty.

"Hello?" I answered the phone at three AM to Jason calling me.

"Liz? I'm sorry for calling so late, but I didn't know what else to do." He sounded worried and he was speaking very fast.

"Jason, it's okay. Give me a second to get downstairs." I got out of bed, assuring Val it was fine and to go back to sleep. I closed the door and walked downstairs to the living room. I could hear him pacing on the phone. "What is it? Is everything okay?"

"I guess now it's fine, but I've got an entire bar's worth of vampires that are pretty fucking pissed at two vampires no one's ever seen before."

"What happened?"

"According to Tony," he took a deep breath. "According to Tony he was dancing along with some friends, and this kid bumped into him. He told him to 'watch it' –"

"No, I told him to go fuck himself! That motherfucker had two left feet!" I heard who I could imagine was 'Tony' in the background. He spoke in a thick Brooklyn accent. "He's lucky I didn't tear his ass in two!"

"So the kid retaliated and shoved him back against the wall and now the club has a Tony-sized hole in the wall." I tried to stifle a laugh, but failed.

"Wait. You're calling me at three in the morning to tell me some kid shoved this guy into a wall... So what's the problem exactly?" He sighed.

"The kid smelled like blood – a lot of blood. And before Tony could 'tear his ass in two', his friend rushed him out of here. Liz, I think the kid is the ripper."

"Did anyone catch the kid's or the friend's name?"

"You know... for a club full of vampires, no."

"I did," I heard a voice say.

"Sammy, you heard their names?"

"I heard one of their names. The kid who shoved Tony – his friend called him 'Benny'."

"Thanks. So, Liz, I guess the bartender said the kid's name is Benny." I groaned.

"I heard. How old do we think he is?"

"Newborn vamp... I don't know, a couple months? Something happened to this kid, Liz. We need to get ahead of him, but if he's travelling with someone, Dios sabe dónde están."

"Okay... so is he still ripping?"

"Well I don't know very many vampires who are just gonna shove someone three times their size – Tony is bigger than Chris! I'll keep an eye out for him... but he's probably gone by now."

"Alright... I'll alert Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They're closest to you."

"Okay. I only found one body by the way. But it is pretty mangled... Some of my vampires are still a little fucked up from Kalial though. I can't be sure it was that kid."

"Alright. Document it anyway, I suppose. Thanks." I hung up the phone and since I was out of bed, I decided I wouldn't bother Val by getting back into it. The baby was quite active and lying down would've become uncomfortable. I grabbed my computer and sat down in the living room. I turned it on and opened my e-mail to send to the Sheriffs of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

'Sheriffs – Sarah NJ, and Vic PA. I have reason to believe the ripper may be on his way to your state. Someone sighted him in New York – he caused a bit of a problem, but wasn't ripping through bodies. We're not sure if he's rehabbed or not, but please, if you see him PROCEED WITH CAUTION. We're not sure why he went ripper, or what his situation is. What we do know is that if the ripper is one and the same as the kid, he goes by "Benny" and is traveling with a male companion. Again, if you come into contact with him, follow the protocol and contact me immediately. Thank you – Liz, M, VSA' I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Val.