The Scottsville Vampire Invasion

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

The alarm next to my bed goes off. I lift my head and immediately feel the spike of a headache come crashing down into the center of my forehead. After last night's run with the vampires at the trailer park, I took Victor, Bear and Josh out for a few drinks. Unfortunately, a few drinks turned into one too many. Victor is actually fun to hang out with once he loosens up a bit. He was busting all of our chops and telling us crazy vampire stories.  

I stagger out of my room, go down the stairs, stumble out the front door, pick up the paper, go back into the house and put some coffee on. While I'm waiting for it to percolate, I take the paper out of the plastic wrapper and drop it on the table. 

"Convict Working for the Cops!!!" is the headline. What the hell is this? 

"For the last several nights a mysterious figure has been accompanying the Scottsville Police Department on their regular patrols. The person has been assisting the department on a number of calls and has also spent time with them outside of work. From sources who interact regularly with the department they have told me that this person calls himself 'Victor' and claims he is a 'Vampire Hunter.' After conducting some research, this reporter has found out that "Victor" it not the man's name and that he has a criminal history. 

"Victor" is from Emmitsburg, Maryland where he works in a Home Depot and his real name is Fred Smith. Mr. Smith was convicted of stealing classified documents from the Department of Defense when he was a contractor for Lockheed Martin working at the Pentagon. What Mr. Smith was planning to do with the documents is unclear since he pled guilty to the charges before the case ever went to court, but it was suspected that he was going to sell the papers to a foreign nation. 

"Since his arrest and jail time, Mr. Smith has moved several times, taking up various odd jobs and then disappearing for long periods of time. He then reappears, stays at a location, and once again goes underground. 

"The Scottsville Police Department is forbidden from allowing anyone not a sworn member of local or federal law enforcement to serve with the police department. It is also a prerequisite that any member of the force not have any criminal history. In this case the Sheriff has doubled down by having a person that is unqualified to work with the department and also has a criminal past." 

I slam the newspaper on the table and bring my fist down on top of it. Dammit. I knew Glen would come after me, but I didn't know that he would do it like this. He's bringing Victor, or Fred, or whatever the hell is name is down so that we can't control the vampires. This is it. Glen has finally gone too far. He's throwing Victor under the bus to protect himself. I'm not going to be deterred here. I'm keeping Victor. I don't care what the policy is. He's saving the lives of the citizens in this town.  

My cell rings. I look down at a number that I'm not familiar with. I pick up the line. "Clark, this is Mayor Frazier. What the hell am I looking at here?" The line is so fuzzy, I'm having a hard time hearing him. 

"What are you referring to?" 

"Glen posted an article online saying you have some felon riding around with you and your team. What the hell are you doing there? We can't have some loon riding along with the police." 

"Mr. Mayor, Victor has been a huge asset to us and is really helping with these cases. We can't let the press intimidate us from using an important member of the investigation." 

"According to this report his name isn't even Victor. It's Fred. You have a felon riding around with you under an assumed name and you're trying to convince me that this is a good idea? What the hell has gotten into you?" 

"Sir, I'm trying to save this town. I'm going to do whatever I need to do and if that means employing a guy with a checkered past then I'll do that." 

There is a pause on the other end of the line. "Clark, let me be one hundred percent clear on this. I want this guy, whatever the hell his real name is, off of the police force. I don't want to hear anything else about this guy ever again. Do I make myself clear?" 

"Mayor Frazier, if you were here you, would be able to see the value this guy has." 

"Clark, you better back off. I'm taking care of my sick kid and you're trying to make this about that?" 

"No, that wasn't my point. I was just trying to say that he's really an asset." 

"Listen to me very carefully. I want him off the force and I don't want him or anyone else without the correct background or authority working in a law enforcement capacity. Is that clear?" 

I try to think of something I could say that would make my case better, but I can't come up with anything. "I got it." 

He hangs up without saying anything. Dammit, Glen you got what you want. Fine, I'll get rid of Victor, but all that means is that I'm going to double down on going after Glen even harder now.

I knock on the door of Victor's hotel room. He opens the door without talking and sits down on the bed. There is a copy of the newspaper on the blanket next to him. "So you know why I'm here?" I ask. 

"Eventually, my past catches up to me," he says. 

"This isn't my decision. My hand is being forced here." 

"I'm sure it is. I didn't tell you my real name because I was afraid this would happen." 

"We're all prisoners of our past whether it's something we did or a football game people just won't let go of." 

"For the record, I pled guilty to that charge, but all I wanted to do was get the word out that the government was lying to the public about the vampire outbreaks like the one up the road, but they caught me before I could release the information." 

"Victor, I mean Fred, I don't care about that. You served this town well and with honor. You saved a lot of people's lives." 

"Thanks." 

"What are you going to do?" I ask him. 

"I'll go home and then I'll find another hotspot and go there and kick some ass. There's always somewhere for me to go." 

"How did you get involved in this? How are you so good at taking these things on?" 

"I've been doing it for long time. It's part of my family. My father was a vampire hunter. I've been going after these things my whole life. I wanted to open up the secrets of the vampires up to the whole world and I paid the price for it." 

I stand up and stick my hand out. "I'll always appreciate what you did for me and this town. Keep in touch and stay safe." 

He takes my hand and looks me in the eye. "With me gone you got one chance to finish this thing off and that is by bringing down whoever brought this into your town. Once that person is eliminated, these things will leave and your town will be back to normal." 

"I know. You've told me that. I'll get the job done." I say as I turn to leave. 

"Clark." I hear from behind me. 

I turn. He is holding his staff, "I want you to have this. Take it and run these fuckers out of here." 

"I can't take that. It's your staff." 

"I can make another one. You'll need a good one," he says and hands it to me. "Now, go kick some vampire ass."