Paranormals

Chapter 2: A Problem of Supernatural Proportions

I appear in my living room less than ten minutes after Joey calls me. I take care to appear directly in front of the television. It is officially known as my link spot, and nobody in the household goes near it at any given time. We've learned the hard way that I need a clear spot to link to. It became abundantly clear when Joey had to be taken to the ER for two cracked ribs because I linked onto the couch...where he was enjoying a nap.

The space in front of the television is perfect, because it ensures that I can't be seen from the windows in the living room, and nobody ever stands directly in front of the TV. It would block everybody's view. The only thing we have to be careful about is that somebody warns me if we have guests, so that I can link to my room instead.

I walk out to the kitchen to see my family gathered around the table. They look up as I walk in. "How was the ghost?" 

"It was good Dad. A little fighting, but he managed to see the light. No pun intended."

Dad simply nods. I gulp. That's a bad sign. Usually he would be laughing at my bad jokes. The fact that he isn't makes me nervous.

"Okay, somebody tell me what's going on here. You're freaking my out."

Dad and Joey both look at Mom expectantly. She sighs. "We have a slight problem."

"I gathered that," I say, giving her a look.

She runs her hands through her hair, a sure sign she's nervous. "Remember when we found out that Lombardi was creating lots of new vampires, fast?"

I grimace, nodding in reply. Lombardi was a vampire in California. He was well acquainted with my family. We'd been dealing with his crap since before I was born. Unfortunately, there was only so much we could do. We kept tabs on him, but mainly put him on the back burner. He was a rich, annoying asshole, but since he was mostly concerned with gaining wealth, we hadn't done too much with him except issue strict warnings.

However, when he had started to rapidly create vampires, we were a little alarmed. Since my brother Ben was currently going to UCLA, we asked him to keep an eye on him. Apparently he had news of some sort.

"Ben told us that Lombardi is losing control of these new vampires, and fast. Read this."

She presses a newspaper into my hands, and I look at the article she indicates. The heading screams, "MURDER RATE IN LA AND SURROUNDING AREA ON THE RISE." That's all I have to read. New vampires have little control over the amount of blood they take in, and are extremely thirsty. They usually end up killing the humans they feed off the first dozen times or so. That's why they have to be taught when to stop, and aren't supposed to be feeding without an older vampire. Lombardi was clearly not a great teacher. It didn't surprise me; the Italian man had never learned patience, even over his long immortal life.

I handed her back the article. "What are we going to do about this?" I ask, my voice filled with suppressed anger. I hated it when humans were put at risk by supernaturals. Accidents with new vampires happened, and it was sad, but when things like this happened, it made me want to strangle someone. Specifically, Lombardi. He was a prime example of supernaturals having power, and them abusing it.

"We need to fix it quickly. I hate to ask this of you, since you've already linked a lot today, but I need you to join Ben in California and confront Lombardi. Tell him it's been brought to our attention, and it needs to be stopped, or else. We know him well, and we have a lot of favors we can call in if we need to. Tell him if he doesn't get control over this, we will make his life quite difficult."

I nod at her. "Can I miss school tomorrow?"

She gives me a stern look. "Casey,-"

"Please? I'm going to be exhausted! And all of my grades are good."