Black Friday- retribution

Chapter two- Uninvited guest.

Katelyn had headed back to her flat for a shower during her lunch break while Cassian had fetched some iced lattes from the cafe round the corner.
No matter how much she scrubbed, the smell  rotting flesh still lingered in her nostrils.
Looking in the mirror, she ran her fingers through her shoulder-length raven hair, detangling the strands as she allowed the warm air to dry her body.
The hustle and bustle of the London traffic could be heard from the open window above her head. Katelyn took a moment to observe her reflection in the floor length mirror and making a mental note of every inch of herself. From her chestnut brown eyes to her perfectly straight teeth, and the cluster of moles scattered on her right shoulder-blade to her hips that stuck out. She could feel her rib-cage if she breathed in hard enough, she wondered how it would feel to rip the rib cage apart as she poked her fingers into her abdomen. Her mind flashed back to the Jane Doe found in the woods, and she shuddered at the thought of being ripped open from the inside out.
The one bedroom flat had been Katelyn's home for the past twelve years. Not just a home, but her safe-place. She loved living alone, the freedom that came with it, the independence she had gained over the years- ever since she had left her home town of River Falls. She hadn't spoken to her parents since, and nor did she wish to.
Not anytime soon anyway.
She had only maintained a relationship with her older brother Kyle who had also moved to London.
Katelyn grabbed her work rucksack and checked her mobile for messages. As assumed, Cassian had messaged to let her know he was outside, and 'the lattes were melting quicker than the ice caps in Antarctica.' Katelyn smiled to herself. Cass -as she called him- always made her smile.
Cassian greeted Katelyn with a wolf whistle as she climbed into the passenger side, whacked up the air conditioning and gulped down her now warm drink. She pretended that she didn't like the attention that Cassian gave her, but deep down he made her tummy flutter, and the days seem to go by a bit better when he was around.
"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" Cassian asked, flashing a smile to his partner and turning the key in the ignition.
Katelyn gave a shy grin and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah like every day."
"So, let me take you on a real date then."
"Cass, c'mon..."
"I know, I know.. I'm friends-zoned" he laughed.
Katelyn knew Cassian was in love with her. Everyone knew he was in love with her. And it wasn't that he wasn't a good guy, he ticked all the boxes. Six foot something, long dark hair, beard, and he had the most gorgeous green eyes.
Katelyn had commitment issues, a fear of being attached to someone just for them to leave, and Cassian was too much of a nice guy to be messed around. She respected him far too much.
He was kind and considerate, he was level headed and very intelligent. He made her laugh, made her smile and a lot of people like him, he was one of the good ones.
The pair were kindred spirits, and she wasn't prepared to lose that kind of relationship.
***
The detectives flashed their ID badges and headed towards the chief's office on the sixteenth floor of the London metropolitan police station where Katelyn had been based for the past few years, ever since she had been promoted to detective -shortly followed by Hames. Together they made a perfect team and had solved many, many cases together.
But then six months ago, women's bodies began turning up around London in the most awful conditions. It had appeared that vampirism was plaguing the streets once again and the peaceful alliance between humans and vampires was coming to an end.
Katelyn wasn't too surprised by the murders. Her family had warned her of vampires and other creatures of the night for years, and babbled on about a war between the witches and vampires. Bought up in a pagan community, the private and secluded town of River Falls had been built in the nineteenth century by the descendants of the townspeople. listening to stories of vampires, werewolves and demons to name a few, and taught the power of witchcraft, Katelyn hadn't agreed with any of it and chose to get away.
She thought it was all bullshit, although there was a time in her teens that she had identified as a witch.
Her brother Kyle had already left a year before, and straight away took his sister in. The two had both build successful careers and as far as she was concerned, they only ever needed each other.
Still, her pride had got in the way, and over a decade of no contact with her parents wasn't about to change just because they had been right about one thing. That vampires would attack...
"I can't believe that vampires are the cause of this. I mean, why now after all these years?" Cassian wondered.
They reached the corridor leading to the chief's office and they prepared for their briefing.
"I don't know, but this isn't going to go away by itself. And we aren't exactly trained in killing supernatural beings are we?" Katelyn replied before knocking on the door, shortly followed by the door swinging open and a flustered Ian beckoning them inside.
"Okay... the girl in the woods has been identified as Lucille Perez, she was reported missing two months ago by her husband. She was twenty-four years old, mother of one and was a waitress in Chinatown." Ian rambled.
The pair sat down and listened on.
"I'm not entirely sure how this is going to end up. We are way out of our depth with this. I mean fucking vampires, honestly!" Ian reached for his nicotine gum and popped several in his mouth. "Still, it'll be out of our hands soon. The government are no doubt gonna take control and then we are well and truly fucked!"
The trio sat for a while and discussed their next move, every scenario leaving them feeling like it was hopeless. What chance did they honestly have to take down a gang of vampires?
***
The conference hall was filled with every single journalist from around the country, and even a few further afield. The mayor had made an appearance along with the prime minister. This was serious, and the whole nation was about to know about it.
Detectives valentine and Hames sat down next to chief Holden and faced the flashing cameras as the prime minister entered the room, and the room fell silent.
Prime minister Andy Anderson has only been in power for the past five months, and already he had made himself very unpopular. From his controversial views on women's rights to his pay cuts among the workers, the nation definitely felt that he was doing more harm than good. Above all that the man was a complete arsehole, and the room waited patiently for him to begin talking.
"Good evening, earlier today the body of missing Lucille Perez was found in Epping Forest. We believe she had been dead for around four days." Andy paused for a minute before continuing.
"The victim wasn't the first, and probably won't be last. What we can tell you is that all the victims were drained of blood and had their abdomen ripped apart. We believe that the culprit couldn't possibly be human. We have evidence that this is the work of a vampire."
The room began to gasp and chatter amongst themselves in disbelief. The prime minister raised his hand to hush the room before continuing.
"We have this under control and I urge the public to not go into a panic. We are working on an operation to capture the culprits and will make sure that life continues as normal, however in the meantime I have no choice but to issue an eight pm curfew. Don't answer your doors past this time, don't be on the streets, stay indoors until daylight. If what we know about vampires is true, then this should keep us safe."
The prime minister answered a few questions from the journalists before handing over to the chief who then answered several questions regarding the state of the bodies and the other missing women who were yet to be found.
With that, the conference was closed and the room began to filter out, one by the one the journalists scurried away.
Nobody noticed the man sitting in the fourth row towards the back of the room.
Nobody noticed how he wasn't meant to be there or how he gleefully smirked revealing a mouthful of pearly whites.
Nobody noticed the missing canine fang as he laughed uncontrollably.
Then he was gone.