Raving Moon, Lords of the Night Book One

Chapter 16: Magus

We climbed out of the van and told the driver he could return to HQ. He thanked me and drove away, leaving us on the curb in a low income shopping area. A few dozen stores lined both sides of the street with gaudy neon lights and signs in varying states of disrepair. Shoppers hurried past us. Members of the community recognized our suits and knew we were there on business. Some gave us curious looks, others just wanted to get off the dark streets of Rat City as soon as they could. As before, the atmosphere of the neighborhood was one of fear and a downward spiral into decay. The locals struggled to eke out a living in the slowly dying corpse of a town.

The entrance to the Demeter Avenue station on the 1 train line sat across the street. Caution tape cordoned off the stairwell and orange cones created a safe perimeter around that. We ducked under the tape and made our way down the stairs. The lights had been put out, a natural deterrent to prying human eyes.

Like my own, Ariane's shifter eye adjusted to the dim lighting as we went down to the token booth. Our footfalls echoed in the darkness around us, gradually pushing back the sounds of the streets above us. The smell of peeling paint and crumbling tiling mingled with the stink of the underground subway system to create their own unique scent.

A throne sat in the booth splitting her attention between the turnstiles and her cell phone. She saluted as we walked past and I nodded in response. She buzzed us through the exit gate and onto the platform. The platform lights had been dimmed near the entrance, but brightened the further away we got. Near the tunnel entrance stood three thrones, and a pair of CSIs. As we approached, I could feel the death lingering in the air: young, vibrant, finite. I knew the victim was human before I laid eyes on him.

The sergeant on the scene was a nosferatu named Kolro, his large eyes glowed like a bat's through the goggles he used to protect them against the lights. He pulled back his hood, revealing large pointed floppy ears, and a face that more greatly resembled a bat than a primate. He saluted, and walked over. I felt Ariane recoil, but when I turned her face was stoic and professional.

"Lieutenant, ma'am." His German accent was less of a distraction than the impediment caused by the large fangs that replaced his front teeth.

"Sergeant Carlov, right?" Ariane asked.

"No, but close. Kolro. I'm glad you remembered my name."

"I never forget a face," she said.

Kolro pulled up his hood in what was likely a subconscious gesture.

I almost laughed, the Nosferatu were impossible to forget, sometimes hauntingly so. Aside from their hideous, hairless appearance, they also fed off of the life auras of others... the living and the undead alike. Madness was common among them, prompting many Houses to ban them. Even among vampires they were considered monsters. However, Kolro was a good throne and a strong leader. He would have been a praetorian if he wasn't on Hawkins's shit list. We weren't friends, but we shared a common enemy.

"What do you have for us, Sergeant?" I asked as I walked over to the body.

"Another mauling, sir. Three witnesses. The token clerk is a member of the community and called it in immediately. It's fortunate a team was around the corner."

"Around the corner?" I looked over at the two vampires standing behind the CSI recording the scene.

"There is a small blood bank around the corner, sir. We were making a purchase when the call came in," explained the taller of the two.

"We came right away, sir. Caught the witnesses while the token clerk kept them busy," said the other.

They were both nondescript vampires.