Dying Bites: The Bloodhound Files-1 by DD Barant Page A
Authors: DD Barant
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Romance, Fantasy fiction, Fiction - Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy - Contemporary, Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Occult fiction, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Vampires, American Science Fiction And Fantasy, Horror & Ghost Stories, Werewolves, Serial Murders, Criminal profilers, Serial Murder Investigation
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them weeping, others stoic. Some of them praying as they said good-bye to their humanity forever.
I look down. Some of the holes are no more than two feet from the floor.
Dying Bites – Bloodhound Files 01
Page 87 of 370
“Yeah, this is a crime scene,” I murmur. “But I’m a little unclear on something. I thought you said the Japanese camps were used mainly for turning out hemovores?”
Tanaka nods. “That is true. But the Emperor still had to maintain appearances with his allies; this site was one of the few which also produced lycanthropes. German personnel were in fact stationed here as well.”
“Huh.” Once again, the killer was sending mixed signals; he’d picked a place that was significant in more than one way, to more than one species.
And maybe to more than just himself.
“Tanaka, when did Keiko Miyagi become a vampire?”
“I don’t know; we don’t keep official records of that. I can find out, of course.”
“Do that. I’m betting it was right here, in this very room. This is where she stopped being human and became something else. And I’m betting we’ll find the same kind of connection with the previous vics, too.”
I look up, see the spot where the block and pulley was attached, directly above the bloodstain. I can almost see her there: suspended, violated, literally dying by inches. Killed by her own weight the same way the tour guide was killed by his struggles.
But the scientist didn’t fit. A vampire killed by sled dogs with silvered teeth? The other two murders seemed almost as if the killer was denying responsibility, placing some of the blame for the deaths on the victims themselves—but what had the scientist done to contribute to his own demise?
I walk in a slow circle around the bloodstain. “Damon,” I say. “Can you use your abilities on this?”
Dying Bites – Bloodhound Files 01
Page 88 of 370
“Our own forensic animists have already investigated,” Tanaka tells me. “They found little of note.”
“I’d still like to have my guy give it a shot.” If there’s one thing I’ve learned working for the Bureau, it’s never trust the locals; there’s always a buried layer of nepotism, incompetence, or interdepartmental hostility that you’ll be completely unaware of, no matter how pleasant and cooperative your liaison may seem. Tanaka might genuinely be trying to help, but that second cousin of his immediate superior who’s sleeping with Tanaka’s ex-wife might decide to misplace an important file just when I need it. Eisfanger, on the other hand, I can yell at.
He’s already opened his case and taken out a few items—some small bones, a rattle, a number of stoppered vials. “I’m going to talk to the bloodstain,” he says. “Hemovore blood is powerful stuff. It may still have an echo of the victim’s persona in it.”
And then I pick it up, just a twinge from Tanaka’s general direction: he’s upset. I can’t quite make out if it’s nervousness, irritation, or both, but he doesn’t like what Damon’s about to do.
I walk back in Tanaka’s direction, pulling out my Urthbone at the same time. I take a long swallow while pretending to study what Damon’s doing.
Yeah. There we go. Tanaka’s not just annoyed; he’s worried.
“Before you proceed,” he says, “there’s something you should know—”
Eisfanger’s already drawn some runes on the floor with a dark liquid. He tosses the bones onto the bloodstain halfway through Tanaka’s warning.
And then everything goes crazy.
Dying Bites – Bloodhound Files 01
Page 89 of 370
FOUR
A whirlwind of screaming light rises from the stain like a special-effects-heavy commercial for a demonic kitchen cleanser. Eisfanger’s eyes roll up in his head and he pitches over backward, out cold.
Abruptly, there’s a wall in front of me. A tall, pin-striped wall, with a fedora on top of it. I guess a golem’s first priority is to protect his . . . whatever I am, but
I look down. Some of the holes are no more than two feet from the floor.
Dying Bites – Bloodhound Files 01
Page 87 of 370
“Yeah, this is a crime scene,” I murmur. “But I’m a little unclear on something. I thought you said the Japanese camps were used mainly for turning out hemovores?”
Tanaka nods. “That is true. But the Emperor still had to maintain appearances with his allies; this site was one of the few which also produced lycanthropes. German personnel were in fact stationed here as well.”
“Huh.” Once again, the killer was sending mixed signals; he’d picked a place that was significant in more than one way, to more than one species.
And maybe to more than just himself.
“Tanaka, when did Keiko Miyagi become a vampire?”
“I don’t know; we don’t keep official records of that. I can find out, of course.”
“Do that. I’m betting it was right here, in this very room. This is where she stopped being human and became something else. And I’m betting we’ll find the same kind of connection with the previous vics, too.”
I look up, see the spot where the block and pulley was attached, directly above the bloodstain. I can almost see her there: suspended, violated, literally dying by inches. Killed by her own weight the same way the tour guide was killed by his struggles.
But the scientist didn’t fit. A vampire killed by sled dogs with silvered teeth? The other two murders seemed almost as if the killer was denying responsibility, placing some of the blame for the deaths on the victims themselves—but what had the scientist done to contribute to his own demise?
I walk in a slow circle around the bloodstain. “Damon,” I say. “Can you use your abilities on this?”
Dying Bites – Bloodhound Files 01
Page 88 of 370
“Our own forensic animists have already investigated,” Tanaka tells me. “They found little of note.”
“I’d still like to have my guy give it a shot.” If there’s one thing I’ve learned working for the Bureau, it’s never trust the locals; there’s always a buried layer of nepotism, incompetence, or interdepartmental hostility that you’ll be completely unaware of, no matter how pleasant and cooperative your liaison may seem. Tanaka might genuinely be trying to help, but that second cousin of his immediate superior who’s sleeping with Tanaka’s ex-wife might decide to misplace an important file just when I need it. Eisfanger, on the other hand, I can yell at.
He’s already opened his case and taken out a few items—some small bones, a rattle, a number of stoppered vials. “I’m going to talk to the bloodstain,” he says. “Hemovore blood is powerful stuff. It may still have an echo of the victim’s persona in it.”
And then I pick it up, just a twinge from Tanaka’s general direction: he’s upset. I can’t quite make out if it’s nervousness, irritation, or both, but he doesn’t like what Damon’s about to do.
I walk back in Tanaka’s direction, pulling out my Urthbone at the same time. I take a long swallow while pretending to study what Damon’s doing.
Yeah. There we go. Tanaka’s not just annoyed; he’s worried.
“Before you proceed,” he says, “there’s something you should know—”
Eisfanger’s already drawn some runes on the floor with a dark liquid. He tosses the bones onto the bloodstain halfway through Tanaka’s warning.
And then everything goes crazy.
Dying Bites – Bloodhound Files 01
Page 89 of 370
FOUR
A whirlwind of screaming light rises from the stain like a special-effects-heavy commercial for a demonic kitchen cleanser. Eisfanger’s eyes roll up in his head and he pitches over backward, out cold.
Abruptly, there’s a wall in front of me. A tall, pin-striped wall, with a fedora on top of it. I guess a golem’s first priority is to protect his . . . whatever I am, but
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