4

Both men watched the new detective walk toward their boss, who seemed to be overworking one of their juniors.

“For God’s sake, you’ll have to do something better than that so I’ll have something to work with,” he grunted. “I’m sorry, sir,” Alfred, the junior, replied. “Forget about having lunch later… Was there any blood?” “We couldn’t detect any traces,” Alfred said.

The mean boss was about to say something when the detective stealthily walked up behind them. “What the—” “Captain Miller…” Alfred gasped.

“Good afternoon, everyone. Detective, can you please repeat everything so I can be filled in?”

“Who sent you? Does your investigation team tell you to snoop around other people’s crime scenes? Go back and stick to your job, son.” He tried to brush him away, but the detective grabbed his hand and lowered the sleeve to expose a wristwatch.

“This is a really expensive watch. The colour’s nice too.” “Oh, this? I spent a bit of money on it. Alright, can you mind your business and get the hell out of here?” The man tried to free himself from his grip, but the detective held him firmly.

“But something doesn’t add up…” He lowered his nose to take a sniff. “What’re you doing?” “The watch smells like cologne even though you don’t use any. And I would think you’d buy a watch that fits you, especially if you spent so much on it… and the time’s not right. Isn’t this the time in Russia right now? I wonder if that tall, heavyset drug trafficker from Russia who was released not long ago got back home without problems.” He frowned as he slowly lifted his eyes to his. “I thought taking watches as a bribe went out of fashion long ago.”

Alfred adjusted his glasses and turned to look at him, who stuttered. “Well… um…” The detective brushed him aside with a smile. “There’s no need to get flustered. I was only speculating… and since we’re all on the same side, let’s try to be polite to each other.” He turned to leave.

Now it was his turn to answer questions. “Did you really…?” someone asked. “How could you, sir?” “Looks like you need to answer some questions.” “No, that’s not what happened… I just picked it up since he threw it away…”

He stopped and twirled his hand. “Now, please…” A smile tugged at his lips as he slightly bowed. “Do excuse me.”

Alfred turned to look at him with admiration, especially at how he had managed to take bullies down a notch.

Captain Kaiwan Miller had graduated early from the police department. He had an amazing memory and never forgot anything he had seen even once. Since the vampire task force was formed, his arrest rate had been over 80%. He had distinguished himself with groundbreaking arrest tactics and had been awarded a national medal of the highest order at a young age. Most female officers in the force had eyes for him and always wanted to be on the same team because his list of achievements was endless. He was called the Demon Hunter because he was so good at hunting vampires.

“The scene is still a mess, though. I think a couple of vampires got into a fight,” Josh, his spy, told him as he arrived at the office. “A fight?” “Yes. Well, it’s good that we seem to have gotten rid of one more at least.” “The security cams?” Kaiwan asked as Josh handed him a file. He flipped it open and examined the pictures of the almost collapsed building. “There are no security cams in the area, and dash cams haven’t picked up anything yet.” “Witnesses?” “There were two students, one male and one female, at the scene around the time of the incident. But they both have alibis.” “What are their alibis?” he asked as he slumped into his seat. “A resident reported the crime immediately after it happened. Both students were caught on camera in front of their houses at that time. Their houses are over twenty minutes away, so that proves their alibis.”

He frowned as he took a closer look at the picture. If there’d really been a fight, there’d be some traces of it. It wasn’t a fight. It was a one-sided beating, and the one taking it couldn’t even land a single hit. “The killer isn’t an average vampire.”

“Have you seen Chanbridge Hall? It collapsed,” a student said. “I heard there’s no security footage because it collapsed too fast and there was too much smoke. But nobody got hurt.” “Could this be the work of vampires? A lot of officers came to investigate.”

Zuriña turned toward the group of students gathered nearby. “There must be vampires in our school. Two incidents have taken place on our campus over the course of a few days. That’s proof they’re among us. The school has done nothing about this issue despite our repeated demands for a solution,” the one who seemed to be their leader said. “That’s right.” “He’s right. If they’re not going to take action, giving all the lectures remotely would be better,” Roshan added.

She had to be more careful in the future.

“Excuse me.” Someone called from behind them. They turned, and Zuriña was particularly surprised to see who it was. “Are you Zuriña Anderson?” “Can you tell me how to get to the police station?” It was the man who had saved her and her siblings from Mr. Gangster Leader. “Oh, we meet again,” he said. “Yeah.” “I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Kaiwan Miller, a detective.” “I see.” “Does your friend mind if I could borrow you for a while?” He asked, and she turned to Roshan, expecting him to protest, but he only smiled. “Sure. I have some things to catch up with.”

They hadn’t walked far when whispers followed them. “Whoa… he’s as hot as hell.” “Is he a student from the theatre major?” “What an amazing body. He must be at least six foot two.” “I want his number.”

What was he here for? When the police had come the previous day, she hadn’t been suspected. She had fled the scene, and her alibi had checked out. So what did they want now?

“I came to offer my support.” Her heart skipped. Had he read her mind? “Huh?” “I was worried you might be in shock because it was a frightening incident. Why don’t we grab lunch together? You can ask me any questions you want.”

She resisted the urge to sigh in relief and acted as if she knew nothing. “Um… okay. This is something I’ve always wondered. What happens when a vampire gets caught?” He smiled. “That’s a good question. It hasn’t been made public. A vampire’s weakness is their heart, but because they can regenerate, it’s not easy to kill them by shooting or stabbing. You need to extract their heart completely, and in order to kill them, we use a more surefire method.” “Which is?” “We paralyse them using an electrified wire and then throw them into a blast furnace at over 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s how we melt them down without leaving a trace.”

A blast furnace. She’d only seen that in movies. “Doesn’t that feel reassuring? It was my idea,” he said. “You must have a grudge against vampires or something.” “I just want the world to be normal again…”

At the restaurant, they slid into their seats. “What would you like?” “Potato salad.” “You’re sure?” “Thank you. I’m not much of an eater recently.”

The food arrived. Riña hid her disgust. There was no way she would ever get used to the smell of food. “Let’s dig in.” “Alright, bon appétit.”

“Ouch!” Blood dripped from Kaiwan’s hand. “Darn, I cut myself. I’m just so clumsy.” “Are you alright?” “I’m fine. I’m used to seeing blood in my line of work.”

Her heart thumped as more blood pooled on the table. “It’s a deep cut, though,” he said softly, glancing at her.

This man was doing it on purpose. He knew a vampire couldn’t eat normal food. Now he was watching her reaction to blood.

“I’m sorry. I hope that didn’t make you lose your appetite. You should hurry and dig in.” She didn’t lift her head. “Why aren’t you eating? Does it taste bad? Or…” He leaned closer, forcing her to meet his eyes. “Are you someone who can’t eat this kind of thing?”