The Scottsville Vampire Invasion

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"The menu's all yours. It's the least I can do for you," I say to the man that just saved my life. He's sitting across the table from me and next to Bear and Josh at the Pub II Brewery on Main Street. The Pub I burnt down in the middle of serving customers ten years ago. When the kitchen caught on fire, the workers ran out the door. The patrons took the time to pick up their drinks and food and had a picnic on the train tracks while they watched the fire fighters take down the building.  

"I'll take a straight whisky," he says as he takes in the room, which is empty. Only a few people, except for the regulars at the Corner, venture out after dark. It's so sparse that all we can hear in the restaurant are the people in the kitchen working. 

"I don't think I ever got your name," I say. 

"My real name is not your concern, but you can call me Victor." Just then the waitress comes by, and we order a round of drinks and burgers. 

"That guy, when you killed him, he just disappeared into dust," Bear says. 

The guy shrugs his shoulders. "He was a vampire. That's what they do."  

"So how did you hear about Scottsville?" Josh asks. 

"Are you kidding me? Vampire hunting is what I do. If there is a vampire anywhere on earth, I'll track it down and kill it. In fact, I just got back from Romania. There was a cluster over there that I broke up. I've been following the news out of here on the internet from that paper you have in town. You got it all going on here, and if you don't get a handle on this, your town is going to end up like that one down the road." 

The waitress comes by and drops off our drinks. Bear, Josh and I get a beer and Victor slams down his whisky in one shot. He nods his head, and says, "Until you accept the fact that you have a vampire invasion you're not going to be able to do diddly squat about it. What the hell did you think was going on here?" 

"I don't know. I thought maybe it was people pretending to be vampires to throw us off." 

Victor almost leaps out of his seat. "Throw you off?" he yells, pounding the table. He composes himself. "I've been at this for a long time, and I know it's tough to come to grips with it, but look at what you have here: people dying with a wound to the neck and the next thing you know they're wandering the streets looking for more victims. Every time these things get let loose, they kill two or three more people and then they make two or more vampires, and it grows exponentially from there." 

I lean back in my seat. This guy seems kind of unstable, but some of the things he's saying actually make sense. Even if he's off his rocker, maybe he can at least give us an idea of how to deal with this. The waitress drops off our food. 

He continues, "What you need to understand is this is not an accident. These creatures didn't just show up here one day. Someone let them into your town." 

"That's what you said in the office. What did you mean by that?" Bear asks. 

"Vampires can't come into your house to kill you unless you invite them in. Your town is the same way. Someone let them in. You find out who let them in, and that's the end of your problem. Once you take care of the person who led them in here, they aren't your guests anymore, and they'll leave and go back to Sharpsburg. I've been out at the site of that first victim. I saw all those animals. Whoever wanted this in your town killed those animals and bled them out to bring in the vampires from Sharpsburg." He takes a big bite out of his burger. 

I lean back in my seat. I know who that is. Glenn. Glenn let these things in here and is now reaping the benefits of his enhanced circulation. It's all starting to come together.