Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

9

       Everybody gasps, and their eyes all meet at the same point: That box of pale heads, disembodied and collected, and placed inside of a dusty crate. A financial adviser shoots out of his seat and shouts, "A murderer, damn it! We're not hiring a murderer! You psychopath! You collect people's heads like foreign coins?!" He shakes his head and refutes. "No, you misunderstand. Every head in this box has been cut off of a vampire. None of them are from a normal human being. Does anybody else have anything to rudely yell out?" A woman stands up and adds her two cents. "This is ridiculous! Abso-lute-ly ridiculous! You're crazy if you think we'd put you in charge! Are you even a citizen of this town?!" He rolled his eyes. "Does that even matter? Look, your town is in a desperate position. If I didn't help you, really, what would you all do? You don't know how to fight those things. You didn't even know they existed until a day or two ago. I have the skill and experience for it. Nobody can say the same." The loud discourse in the room had lessened into silence. Mayor Ronnie Anne looked to the crowd of members. "Let's put it to a vote. Raise your hand if you wish to temporarily appoint Mr. Helsing as head director and advisor. Leave your hand down if you vote to run things by ourselves." People's faces shared unsure looks and hesitant glances. Finally, one hand raised, which led to another, then two more, and soon... the votes were in. Fifty voted for Mr. Helsing to take the lead, while 27 others disagreed. Seeing all the raised hands, Helsing smiled. "You're smart people. Pat yourselves on the back, because you just hired your new hero." Everybody stands, and the meeting is called to an end.

       Ronnie Anne leaves the building, swarmed with apprehension. "Was that the right thing to do?" She felt an odd guilt that she couldn't explain and it was starting to make her afraid. As she walked down the large concrete steps down to the sidewalk, she noticed Lincoln sitting on the bottom step. "What are you doing here?" she asked him. "Waiting for you. What's up with the big meeting? Looks like a lot of people were in there." She sits down next to him. "Yeah, well, it involved our whole staff. It was pretty important. We were talking about the threat that I got last night and what we should do about it. The good thing is, I think it's all taken care of." That last sentence made Lincoln's ears perk up. "Excuse me? 'All taken care of?' What's that supposed to mean? What did you guys do?!" She patted him on the shoulder. "Ease up. Apparently, a vampire hunter was in town and luckily for us, he was willing to help us out." Lincoln stood up and began to freak out, yelling as if he wasn't in public. "You WHAT? Hold on—you're telling me you hired a guy—a guy who's not from our town—who just happened to attend your meeting? You don't find that extremely weird?!" Now that he was saying it back to her, she did start to think of it odd. "Yeah, it might be weird and a ridiculously convenient coincidence, but he sounded genuine!" Lincoln repeated back, "Genuine—yeah right. As if people can't lie through their teeth. Ronnie, what if he's like a—"

       "Like a what?" a voice says behind them. They both turn around and see the large figure himself; dressed in his black attire and staring down at them. It was Helsing. "No, don't let me interrupt. What's your suspicion of me? Is it that you think I'm a shapeshifter? Or maybe an alien? Or do you think, God forbid, that I'm... a vampire?" Lincoln squints at the man. Bitterness crawls through him. They all stay quiet until the man sighs and gives in. "Okay, I guess for you both to trust me, I have to come clean. Since you're doubting me, let me tell you one thing: I am not a vampire. But if you must know, yes, I am not a normal person. There's a reason I'm so good at killing vamps. It's because I'm a werewolf."