Alyssa arrived in front of an old style house. She parked her car and got down. The night was already up. She walked the path up the stairs and the door opened before she could ring on the bell, revealing a man. A beautiful smile spread on her lips. The man was old with wrinkles near his eyes, gray hair and brown eyes. He also smiled when he saw the young lady.
"Lys!" the man said opening his arm, where Alyssa ran without hesitation.
"Grads!"
"come on in" they walked into the house and closed the door. The house was an old style mansion. Alyssa's grandfather, Gavin Naerys, was an adept of old things. He wasn't very keen on investing in modernity.
"how are you, my dear?" he asked as they sat by the kitchen. He poured them both some alcoholic drink.
"I am fine Grads and you?"
"still standing" he smiled. They both downed the content of their glasses. The burn of the alcohol made Alyssa groan and cough.
"that's strong"
"it's a 30 years old scotch. The older, the better" he winked at her and she grimaced but agreed when he poured her another glass.
Alyssa helped her grandfather cook a delicious meal and they sat together to eat.
"so, how's work?" after they were done with their desert and sipping an exquisite wine.
Alyssa sighed before downing the content of her glass again. The thought of the day's events making her blood hot.
"I see" said Gavin refiling her glass. "what's it?"
"I was assigned a case with Alex" Gavin nodded waiting patiently for her to develop. "there were murders in town. The same MO. The coroner determined the cause of the dead was exsanguination." Gavin's eyes squinted at the mention of the last word. "we started gathering the information and got some image of a camera. But…"
"but?"
"but today there was nothing" her hands closed in fists. "the bodies were gone, the coroner was changed, the reports disappeared and the case was closed and indexed when it wasn't even solved yet. They left absolutely no trace of the crime ever existing."
"That's suspicious" the old man rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "but I don't understand what you want me to do"
"they don't know it but I held copies of the leads. I have them in a folder in my laptop."
"what have you got?"
Alyssa stood and opened her bag, pulled out her laptop and opened it. A few clicks on the laptop and she showed him the footage that was enhance by the forensic.
"that's not all. Look at this" she showed him the filed with the images of the victims wound.
"fangs bite" Gavin murmured.
"they were drained of blood, Grads. This man on the video, he had this sign on his coat." she showed his the image of the coat and Gavin's eyes widened. He immediately recognized this. "I never thought I'd say it once day but everything leads to think that there is.."
"a vampire" Gavin finished. Alyssa's heart raced as she watched her grandfather pace the parlor.
"what? no. I meant, there is someone out there who might know about your book myths and is trying to realize it. Someone deranged who might be hiding on the cursed lands"
"seriously?" Gavin raised a brow with a blank stare.
Gavin always strongly believed in the existence of vampire. He used to tell her tales when she was little but Alyssa never believed it. She knew it was ridiculous and absurd, and they'd start arguing about it. So she decided to give it up.
"Whatever, what do we do?" she asked.
"this is not enough to act yet"
"what? What do you mean?" she asked, standing up.
"yes, but all this can be placed into another context, like you're doing now. Someone may know of the symbol and be disguising a cult or something like that"
"yes, and they might be hiding in the cursed lands"
"Okay, listen Alyssa. We need to be sure of it. Have proofs that are undeniable"
"yes but how do I get that?"
"that's something you'll have to do. I have to work on something. Get back to me with proofs. Real undeniable that those things are back and I will give you a trained army to fight and extinguish them all."
"what if they're not?"
"then you might find your deranged psychopaths. If you need help I'll give it to you."
Alyssa looked into her grandfather's eyes. Determination bloomed inside her. She couldn't let the psychopath who did that, do as he wishes, kill people as he wishes and clear the proofs like nothing happened. She have the means to cut the problem to the source and she will. If Alex didn't want to help her no problem, the commissioner indexed the case no problem, as long as her grandfather supported her. Alyssa was now determined to find those proofs. Even if it meant going to the cursed lands… alone.
With a plan in place, Alyssa left her grandfather house the next day. She had it all planned in her head. As she drove, she switched on her phone. She had many texts and calls from Alex. She felt bad for not telling him where she was and for the way they parted the day before. So she called him. The phone rang and Alyssa thought he wouldn't pick but he finally did.
"oh... hey, baby. You good?" Alyssa frowned. Why did he sound nervous?
"yes and you? You seem nervous"
"no, no. everything is okay. I just…" there was a slight muffled sound behind him, causing Alyssa to frown even more.
"is everything alright, Alex?"
"yes, baby" he sounded calmer. "where are you? Why didn't you reply to my calls? I sent you tons of messages"
"I am sorry. I needed to clear my mind. So I went to see my Grads. I should have informed you but, I forgot."
"I understand baby, don't worry. How is Gavin?"
"he is fine, always standing" he chuckled "I will see you soon. I am on my way back"
"okay, I will be waiting for you. I love you, Aly"
"I love you too" she replied and hanged up.
__________🌹
So what do you think?
Deranged psychopath or vampire?