themselves. Anyone who makes too many
children is using up too much of the blood supply and is hunted down.
But there are many hate groups, particularly among those of
orthodox religions, who would like to see all Vampires and Gifted wiped out. They
say that if all Daylight Vampires were killed, then Dark Vampires would go
extinct naturally and there would be no need for the Gifted. This is certainly
true since all Dark Vampires start out as Daylight Vampires and don’t turn Dark
until they kill in bloodlust. The requirement to give blood every three weeks
is considered by many to be inconvenient, and this alone causes plenty of
resentment.
Due to the nature of the prejudice that permeates our
society, I am not new to hate rhetoric. Still, it hurts.
Doing my best to brush off the encounter, I ask Gambino,
“What have you found out about our boy?”
Gambino opens a folder on his desk. “The boy was on our
missing persons list. He was seventeen years old and was missing for twenty-eight
days. The investigating officer thought he was a runaway, but the parents
claimed there was no reason for him to run. We have already notified the
parents, and they identified the body at the Medical Examiner’s this morning. The
boy’s name was Jason O’Connell.”
I stand up and pace a little in Gambino’s tiny office. My
blood is still high from the incident with Schmidt, and the office feels
confining. I hardly take three strides before I have to turn. “Please don’t
mind me,” I say to Gambino. “I just have to move a little. Continue, if you
would.”
Gambino nods, obliging me. “The M.E. faxed over the grill
pattern they found on the boy’s skin. We are searching for the model car it
belongs to. They also have some paint chips found on his skin in forensics, and
we found glass at the scene. Hopefully between these three pieces of evidence we’ll
get a match on a car registered in the area.”
“Have you read the preliminary report from the M.E. yet?”
Gambino taps his folder. “Yes. I’d like to nail the asshole who
did that to a seventeen-year-old boy. Our perp is a real sicko.”
“You and me both. Do you have any persons of interest?”
“Well,” Gambino pauses as though reluctant to reveal what he
must. “There was some trouble in the family. The parents have been estranged
for about four months. The mother is Gifted, and she hid it from her husband
for almost twenty years. When Jason’s gift came to light and his father
rejected it under no uncertain terms, his mother revealed her gift and stood by
the boy. The father left the home when this happened. We’ve talked with both
parents, and I don’t see any real evidence pointing to either of them, but maybe
the father was so ashamed that he decided to off the boy.”
Gambino pauses for a moment and shakes his head. “I just
don’t see a father who loved the boy for seventeen years, turning around and
doing this kind of work on his own son.”
Gambino points to a photo of the boy’s back with the lash
marks highlighted under a bright camera flash. It is a gory photo, but it’s not
nearly as impactful as what I saw with my own eyes just hours before.
“He doesn’t seem like that type of man, and he has no
history of violence,” Gambino continues. “But for now, that’s all we have.”
I offer, “Well, there might be something else going on.”
I reach into my pack, take out a small glass vial, and place
it on the table. “This charm will prevent others from hearing what I’m about to
say, and I need you to stop taking notes.”
Gambino looks at it curiously. “What’s in it? Sand?”
I laugh softly because it does look like sand. “It’s filled
with dried, ground worms as they are one of the few creatures that can’t hear.”
Gambino makes a noise that clearly expresses his disgust.
I defend myself. “It could be made of octopus or squid, but
they are way out of my price range. This is just as effective.”
I can see by his
children is using up too much of the blood supply and is hunted down.
But there are many hate groups, particularly among those of
orthodox religions, who would like to see all Vampires and Gifted wiped out. They
say that if all Daylight Vampires were killed, then Dark Vampires would go
extinct naturally and there would be no need for the Gifted. This is certainly
true since all Dark Vampires start out as Daylight Vampires and don’t turn Dark
until they kill in bloodlust. The requirement to give blood every three weeks
is considered by many to be inconvenient, and this alone causes plenty of
resentment.
Due to the nature of the prejudice that permeates our
society, I am not new to hate rhetoric. Still, it hurts.
Doing my best to brush off the encounter, I ask Gambino,
“What have you found out about our boy?”
Gambino opens a folder on his desk. “The boy was on our
missing persons list. He was seventeen years old and was missing for twenty-eight
days. The investigating officer thought he was a runaway, but the parents
claimed there was no reason for him to run. We have already notified the
parents, and they identified the body at the Medical Examiner’s this morning. The
boy’s name was Jason O’Connell.”
I stand up and pace a little in Gambino’s tiny office. My
blood is still high from the incident with Schmidt, and the office feels
confining. I hardly take three strides before I have to turn. “Please don’t
mind me,” I say to Gambino. “I just have to move a little. Continue, if you
would.”
Gambino nods, obliging me. “The M.E. faxed over the grill
pattern they found on the boy’s skin. We are searching for the model car it
belongs to. They also have some paint chips found on his skin in forensics, and
we found glass at the scene. Hopefully between these three pieces of evidence we’ll
get a match on a car registered in the area.”
“Have you read the preliminary report from the M.E. yet?”
Gambino taps his folder. “Yes. I’d like to nail the asshole who
did that to a seventeen-year-old boy. Our perp is a real sicko.”
“You and me both. Do you have any persons of interest?”
“Well,” Gambino pauses as though reluctant to reveal what he
must. “There was some trouble in the family. The parents have been estranged
for about four months. The mother is Gifted, and she hid it from her husband
for almost twenty years. When Jason’s gift came to light and his father
rejected it under no uncertain terms, his mother revealed her gift and stood by
the boy. The father left the home when this happened. We’ve talked with both
parents, and I don’t see any real evidence pointing to either of them, but maybe
the father was so ashamed that he decided to off the boy.”
Gambino pauses for a moment and shakes his head. “I just
don’t see a father who loved the boy for seventeen years, turning around and
doing this kind of work on his own son.”
Gambino points to a photo of the boy’s back with the lash
marks highlighted under a bright camera flash. It is a gory photo, but it’s not
nearly as impactful as what I saw with my own eyes just hours before.
“He doesn’t seem like that type of man, and he has no
history of violence,” Gambino continues. “But for now, that’s all we have.”
I offer, “Well, there might be something else going on.”
I reach into my pack, take out a small glass vial, and place
it on the table. “This charm will prevent others from hearing what I’m about to
say, and I need you to stop taking notes.”
Gambino looks at it curiously. “What’s in it? Sand?”
I laugh softly because it does look like sand. “It’s filled
with dried, ground worms as they are one of the few creatures that can’t hear.”
Gambino makes a noise that clearly expresses his disgust.
I defend myself. “It could be made of octopus or squid, but
they are way out of my price range. This is just as effective.”
I can see by his
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