Blood Bandits

2.

Amina Lafayette above

It was nightfall and I was nightfall now and I was sitting in my living room by the air conditioner. Sometimes it got very hot in my little apartment but it was small so it was easy to cool down. But at the same time, I loved being cold and wrapping my self in thick socks and hoodies. My apartment wasn't big but it was enough for me. I'd finally ordered pizza for myself and was eating my last slice. Today was awful but I was grateful to Jolie for trying to help me keep my job. She'd been my friend since I'd gotten here. The first day I came into the office, Daily assigned her to help me and show me around and we became friends on the spot. And speaking of her, my eyes wandered over to my work bag.

After taking the last bite of my pizza, I rubbed my hands together, dusting them off. I stood from my couch and walked over to my bag and pulled out the manilla folder. It was as if it were burning my hands. I tossed the folder on the table. No, this was crazy. If I was going to gain Mr. Daily and the boards attention, it wasn't going to be with a vampire story. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved a good vampire story but when it came to my real life, I wasn't so sure that it was going to keep me my job.

But then again...

I bit my lip and attempted to pick up the folder once more. This time I flipped through it and what I seen was enough to make me question my sanity. This had to be a joke. The stories and pictures in the folder dated back all the way to 1860's. I wasn't aware that people even believed in those types of things.

Vampire Murderer Leaves 5 Bodies drained of blood and 0 Witnesses. Authorities continue to search for unknown killer but is unsuccessful.

Oh, I get it. It could have been an animal or something. There were no sightings of vampires so this was a waste of time. But what caught my eye was the bottom of pictures. Most of them read New Orleans. All of these bodies were in New Orleans and there were a couple in Charleston. Then a few were in New York. The pictures were zoomed up on the victims necks. Two punctured holes. Two small for an animal but large for a human. Something wasn't right about these photos. I rubbed my face and reached over the table to grab my phone.

"Hello?" A raspy voice answered.

"Mr. Daily?" I questioned, making sure I'd dialed the right number.

It was.

"Amina? It nearly twelve in the morning, why are you calling me so late, is anything wrong?" He cleared his throat.

I looked over to my microwave in the kitchen and noticed the time. It was indeed twelve so I needed to make this quick.

"Mr. Daily, I'm sorry to call you so late and on such short notice but I was wondering if you could grant me about three weeks off to go home." I could hear him getting out of bed.

He was probably going to yell at me and didn't want his wife to hear him. Hell, I didn't want to hear him. "Three weeks to go home! Amina, did you not hear me clearly earlier when I said we were on a tight schedule? we are in the middle of trying to find a story and you ask me to go home?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "No, it's not for personal reasons. Look, I think I might have a lead on a story."

There was silence on the other end. I guess he was trying to figure out if I was lying or not.

"A lead? It's been seven hours since you've left the station. It's impossible for you to have found a lead this quick." He sighed, not letting himself believe that I could possibly be on to something so fast.