to see a boisterous elderly man in a white sleeveless t-shirt, in handcuffs, being escorted by two uniformed police officers. They struggled as he shouted random obscenities , fighting to escape their grips.
“Drunks, I swear,” Detective Chase chuckled while shaking his head in displeasure.
“That’s nuts. Yeah, I’d rather be on the investigation side of things when I finally work here and not have to deal with that, ” I giggled, turning back around.
He scooted around his desk and shut his door. His office felt like a closet, but the window made it tolerable, albeit today was a challenge with the thunderstorm.
“Where was I?” he dropped into his wooden chair, whipping it around with the rollers against his rubber floor mat. “Oh Yeah, Dimitri’s O rder of the Black Moon is a part of the bigger organization, the Southern Vampire Alliance . He is well- respected in that community and authored the five tenets. They are v ampire society guidelines , ” he detailed.
I stared at him with curious eyes. The torrential rain calmed into a misty drizzle, the sky a dark, steel gray. I hoped the thunder was over. At night, it was strangely calmin g, but a wicked nuisance during the day.
“Whoa, this is so weird . Vampire society guidelines? Do any of the tenets include sacrificing people ?”
He pointed his index finger at me , nodding his head.
“ Good thinking, Fiona. No, nothing about sacrifice . M ost of them outline norms of society — if you ask me. The five tenets are detailed in that little Bible-looking black book they all carry . One tenet deal s with consensual feeding , which means they only drink blood from another living person — if they are willing. ”
“No way! ”
Nausea hit me like a Greyhound bus . I tried to delete the mental images I created, but flashes of people drinking other people’s blood kept popping into my mind . It was more than repulsive.
“Unfortunately, Fiona. Some people do live this way . During criminal investigations , we learn about things you would never dream existed. Some of the scariest people, you learn every detail — their habits, their history, their inner thoughts. Get ready for it,” his voice was earnest.
I shivered . “I’m ready.” I looked at him, waiting.
“The tenets outline d iscretionary practices — they cannot tell humans they are vampires. They are to respect their elders, avoid large gatherings , and only perform rituals if they are in need of increased power —to fight an uprising of another o rder.”
“So, it does outline rituals ? What kind of rituals?”
“It doesn’t specifically say. We’re assuming they all know, have been told verbally, and we’re working on getting the information we need. Oh , one more interesting thing — there’s a tattoo on Dimitri’s middle finger . It is two bold black stripes.”
“Wait a minute; the victim had one like that!”
“Yes, it is identical to the victim’s tattoo.”
“ Is this a mark of the cult? Do the other members have it ? Was the victim a member of the vampire cult?”
“No, it is not, and she was not associated with them, Fiona. We’ve done some research , and it is a mark of a G othic cult from the seventies. It seems that Dimitri and the victim went to school together and were in the same group called the Dark Realm . They were not vampires — just a bunch of Goth kids trying to be different.”
“Well, he at least knew the victim . He ’s the leader of this cult that supposedly killed this woman, so is he a suspect now? Where was he during the murder?”
His office phone rang — he held up an index finger, answering it. I t was somebody from the serology section of his lab .
He walked t he caller through a protocol for a genetic screening for polymorph ism — a series of tests used to identify a suspect via their blood sample. When he inquired on how much of a sample the tech had, I knew he was asking to be sure he could run the test himself to ensure
“Drunks, I swear,” Detective Chase chuckled while shaking his head in displeasure.
“That’s nuts. Yeah, I’d rather be on the investigation side of things when I finally work here and not have to deal with that, ” I giggled, turning back around.
He scooted around his desk and shut his door. His office felt like a closet, but the window made it tolerable, albeit today was a challenge with the thunderstorm.
“Where was I?” he dropped into his wooden chair, whipping it around with the rollers against his rubber floor mat. “Oh Yeah, Dimitri’s O rder of the Black Moon is a part of the bigger organization, the Southern Vampire Alliance . He is well- respected in that community and authored the five tenets. They are v ampire society guidelines , ” he detailed.
I stared at him with curious eyes. The torrential rain calmed into a misty drizzle, the sky a dark, steel gray. I hoped the thunder was over. At night, it was strangely calmin g, but a wicked nuisance during the day.
“Whoa, this is so weird . Vampire society guidelines? Do any of the tenets include sacrificing people ?”
He pointed his index finger at me , nodding his head.
“ Good thinking, Fiona. No, nothing about sacrifice . M ost of them outline norms of society — if you ask me. The five tenets are detailed in that little Bible-looking black book they all carry . One tenet deal s with consensual feeding , which means they only drink blood from another living person — if they are willing. ”
“No way! ”
Nausea hit me like a Greyhound bus . I tried to delete the mental images I created, but flashes of people drinking other people’s blood kept popping into my mind . It was more than repulsive.
“Unfortunately, Fiona. Some people do live this way . During criminal investigations , we learn about things you would never dream existed. Some of the scariest people, you learn every detail — their habits, their history, their inner thoughts. Get ready for it,” his voice was earnest.
I shivered . “I’m ready.” I looked at him, waiting.
“The tenets outline d iscretionary practices — they cannot tell humans they are vampires. They are to respect their elders, avoid large gatherings , and only perform rituals if they are in need of increased power —to fight an uprising of another o rder.”
“So, it does outline rituals ? What kind of rituals?”
“It doesn’t specifically say. We’re assuming they all know, have been told verbally, and we’re working on getting the information we need. Oh , one more interesting thing — there’s a tattoo on Dimitri’s middle finger . It is two bold black stripes.”
“Wait a minute; the victim had one like that!”
“Yes, it is identical to the victim’s tattoo.”
“ Is this a mark of the cult? Do the other members have it ? Was the victim a member of the vampire cult?”
“No, it is not, and she was not associated with them, Fiona. We’ve done some research , and it is a mark of a G othic cult from the seventies. It seems that Dimitri and the victim went to school together and were in the same group called the Dark Realm . They were not vampires — just a bunch of Goth kids trying to be different.”
“Well, he at least knew the victim . He ’s the leader of this cult that supposedly killed this woman, so is he a suspect now? Where was he during the murder?”
His office phone rang — he held up an index finger, answering it. I t was somebody from the serology section of his lab .
He walked t he caller through a protocol for a genetic screening for polymorph ism — a series of tests used to identify a suspect via their blood sample. When he inquired on how much of a sample the tech had, I knew he was asking to be sure he could run the test himself to ensure
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