Blood Mother. A Vampire Tale

Ch. 25 Hoyt- the Mirage

Hoyt was finally leaving the crime scene still unable with how little he had gotten from it as far as information. Tessa had been patiently waiting and taking photos and notes while he combed through the scant evidence looking for a needle. Something had to go his way.

A page from VCU came through his beeper breaking the silence. It's coded message telling him they had an undercover clean up a few miles away. He responded immediately. This would break his foul mood. His mind raced at hoping Calina's shredded body was at the scene.  Maybe Luka had finally come through.

As they drove Tessa rubbed her hands on her thighs nervously.

"Spit it out. If you don't want to see the scene I can drop you off. But decide quick. The VCU doesn't do daytime clean up unless it's a disaster. Too many questions."

"I was just thinking Hoyt. If it was Luka he would have had it cleaned up by now. No one would have found it. It's not like he would leave the mess as a 'see how good I did'.  Unless he had another motive like inflicting one of us with a painful message."

"Ahhh. I see where your brain is going. So you think it could be Dimitri?" 

"I don't know. It's possible. Luka loves his games. But it wouldn't help him stay low under the radar if the truth got out. I can imagine Dimitri on my doorstep, or in my home, not in a random neighborhood."

"Tessa, let's just get the facts and then worry about the message.  I'll go in first. If it's the vamp from the restaurant I'll text you to stay in the car."

"His name is Dimitri, Hoyt. And I'm not saying I'd care. He's a vamp. I'm just working it all out. Don't get all psychoanalytic on me. Or is it jealousy?  In which case, feel free. I've never been with a jealous man, it could be fun. So long as your not the ugly kind of jealous."

Hoyt squeezed her hand and pulled up to a small white brick house. No cars or motion was visible. The VCU were stealthy and undercover masters.

"Maybe it's a trap Hoyt. No ones here."

"They're here. They're just that good. They have nicknamed themselves mirage. When you blink, you missed them. Let's go."

Sitting at the kitchen table in the house was a tiny woman. Shaking hands held a steaming cup of tea. Hoyt wanted to chat with her but needed to see the scene before it was washed.

Behind the house in a small rudely constructed apartment was the main event. Hoyt noticed the smell of damp earth right away when entering. It was untouched really. Dust covered almost every surface. The television and all clocks were unplugged. Light bulbs unscrewed from every room. He tried to put off taking notes there was time for that after the bodies. He went to the bedroom to see the first body. The bed looked as if it had never been slept in. And bits of broken window lined the floor.

The dimly lit room was coated with spray from the dead. He would say blood, but it was thicker, darker, and had a black tone instead of red. He preferred vampire blood. It was unlike his own and easier to remove oneself from the equation that way. Although they say it was much harder to clean up, like thick syrup.

The body lay on floor in the center of the room. A large male. Vampire obviously. From the looks of it it had been clawed by an animal. Deep gouges were removed from the chest and upper torso. An eye on the partially removed head bulged from the socket. The neck was twisted and the throat removed. Hoyt couldn't help but think of a lion attack. The big cats always went for the throat-a life force. Calina seemed to have that down to a science.

The VCU men were impatient. Dawn was just about an hour away. He viewed the body quickly and thanked them for waiting. He knew it was only a courtesy that they did. This organization put cover up above clues or evidence. The other body, below the window was already being disposed of. Members were binding the arms and legs with silver coated zip ties. Silver wasn't known to do much to vamps but annoy them but the VCU stuck to protocol. All bodies were processed as if they would pop back up after a period of hibernation and healing. It happened sometimes. And was never a good surprise.

He saw from his window view that the throat had been removed. He imagined the spine again was completely severed. He hadn't known you could dispose permanently of a vamp that way, and wondered how Calina knew. Or was she just an animal like the lion who stopped and moved on when her prey stopped moving. Again the body was large, male, and armed. Hoyt made a note. Why would Lukas men need guns? Hoyt had almost never seen an armed vamp. They were hand to hand combat killing machines.

He jotted furiously in his notebook. So many things he hadn't witnessed before. This case was an enigma. He felt Tessa enter the room and immediately became protective. She crossed the carpet silently and looked at the first body.

"They're both soldiers. Both died the same way. Clawed and throats removed with the spinal cord severed. Neither of them your vamp. More importantly, neither of them is her."

Tessa gave him a glare "my vamp?"

"You know what I mean. Don't take it personal. I meant your body of interest, is that better?"

"Much. I want to talk to old lady. She's blind. Did you know that?"

"I didn't but it makes sense I guess. If Calina's face is burned she would be almost brilliant to find a human that couldn't see it. Just let me have a moment to look around and we can interview her. You take the lead, she probably will feel comfortable with a polite young woman as her interrogator."

Hoyt watched the clean up which took mere
minutes. The scrub team came in and he began soaking in the surroundings. He was in the den of the lion. And hopefully he could learn something here. Although he wondered if there had been more of them and in fact, if they had gotten to Calina. If they had, it would be over. But still he wanted to understand this rogue. The why, it always came down to the why.

The only room that looked as it had been used was the bathroom. Multiple bars of various soaps lined the entire side of the old rose colored tub which had a large black ring from use and looked as if it had never been cleaned. Bits of black skin lined the drain and stuck to the tub sides. The corner of the bathroom floor held a large ball of black hair.

Hoyt took out his phone and took pics. It was a good reminder that they were dealing with an animal. But curiously one who bathed. Time to talk to the old woman.

The small figure with a slight jump back and grey bun sat at the table. Eyes clouded over and droopy lids from being tired. Tessa led the questioning and Hoyt surveyed the woman's spotless kitchen. The smell of cleaner lingered in the air and not a smudge or fingerprint was on a single surface. She was obviously well able to take care of herself despite her blindness.

"I'm sorry to keep you up, we're taking care of a few things in the apartment and we will be out of your way soon. Is there anything you can tell me about your tenant? Habits? odd behavior? Any reason you can think of that someone would break in and try to hurt her?"

The woman squared her shoulders and looked directly at Tessa. Hoyt noticed she was very good at deciphering location and movement. None of her other senses were diminished by her age. She sat her cup on the saucer and tilted her head towards Hoyt who sat next to Tessa at the small table.

"You mean, besides the fact that she is a vampire?"

Hoyt felt a shift atmosphere in the room and Tessa dropped her cup of tea.

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Thank you for sticking with this. I'm hoping your still finding it worthy of your time. I'm trying to speed up the action to get to the ending but may be sabotaging myself as I love these characters and don't know where I'll be without their constant whispering. Feel free to leave a comment, I truly appreciate any feedback.