History Repeats Itself

Chapter 3 – ‘They’re real’

Xander watched the lady disappear, his thoughts tumbling around. It was odd for him to see that, to even believe that, yet it made sense. Didn’t he question the damn fangs? And what was that about knowing his boss? With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was 11:32, was it too late to call him? Well, f**k it if it was. Without another thought, Xander pulled up his boss’s number and started walking back to his car, waiting till the third ring for his boss to pick up.

“Xander, what’s wrong? Why are you calling so late?”

“I’m at a murder scene but I just had a visitor who told me to call you with questions. Can you meet me at the bar down the way from your house?”

“Uh,” Xander heard his boss move something and then sigh. “Yeah, give me about half an hour to get up and down there.”

“That’s fine. It will take me that long to get there anyway.” With that, Xander hung up and stuffed his phone back in his pocket.

Thirty-five minutes later, Xander walked into the bar, seeing his boss in a corner booth. Which was perfect, no one was around them. He had a feeling this was a conversation that would be saved for their ears alone. He slapped his boss on the shoulder as he walked by, glad to see the beer already on his side of the table.

“Thanks, sir,” Xander told him, taking a sip.

“You’re on the clock, don’t get used to it. Now why the hell are you calling me so late at night? Something was in your voice.”

“Have you heard the name Jade?” Xander watched his boss, who paused before taking a gulp of his beer. The name wasn’t overly common, especially in their area, but something told Xander that his boss knew just who he was talking about.

“She a woman with long jet-black hair, deep green eyes, stands about your shoulders, and has a pair of fangs?” That made Xander snap his head up. He had caught the slightly sharper canines, of course, but didn’t really think they were fangs.

“Sounds about right.”

“Christ Almighty,” Dave said, slamming his beer down. “What the f**k was she doing on a scene?”

“You know her?” Dave leaned back in the booth and shrugged.

“A little, yes. I know more of her than know her. I do know she works for the vampire council.” Xander sucked in a breath at that.

“It’s real, they are real?” Dave looked around before nodding.

“What did she tell you? Better what, what was she doing? Someone died?”

“Impaled on an ice stake, actually. She said it was a newbie vampire. I saw his fangs, but I couldn’t believe they were real.”

“Oh, Xander, they are real. They aren’t like Hollywood, though. They are shits who deserve a wide breath, but they are real.” Dave ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “If the council sent her, it can’t be good. She records deaths, but not all of them.” Xander shook his head at the man, not understanding anything. He had tons of questions and had no clue what to even lay down first. He was honestly expecting his boss to laugh and tell him ‘good one, what are you smoking on the job’, not actually agree with anything. “Let’s take a walk,” Dave said, sliding out of the booth. He threw some bills on the table and Xander took a deep pull of his beer before following the man out.

“If they are real, wouldn’t it be dangerous to walk around at night? Don’t they attack and feed or kill, or some s**t?” Xander asked, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“They feed, of course, they have to, but they don’t kill. Vampires have donors, blood donors, or they get blood from blood banks. However, most have what they call bite slaves. It’s someone they only feed on but usually have s*x with while doing it. According to vampires, the blood that is released during a s****l act seems to be sweeter, and more filling, so they have bite slaves. Some last for years, decades, as long as the human wants or is alive.”

“You know this how?”

“My ex-wife left me because she found out was a bite slave for a vampire. One night, I left to go to Marlene’s house, the vampire. The wife followed and realized I was not only having an affair, but I was letting my blood go to some bloodsucker. It was easier to let everyone think she left because of the job, but it was far from it. In fact, I met Marlene on a case.” Dave pulled out a smoke from his pocket, something Xander hadn’t seen him do. “What did Jade tell you?” his Captain asked as he took a puff.

“To talk to you, that you would explain.” Dave laughed as he took another hit before looking at Xander.

“There’s not much to explain. Most are actually decent, don’t bother us, we don’t bother them. They, for the most part, don’t kill humans, and the crimes they commit within their own community are handled within, they don’t outsource it.”

“How long have they been around?”

“That is a good question, with no answer. No one can actually date back to the first legit vampire. The council won’t give up that information, and very few know it outside of that.” Dave paused as he took another hit. “They are a tight-lipped bunch, but they roam the streets a lot more than we think they do. Hollywood has played them up and trust me, what we know from films is not the real thing. Vampires don’t stand out unless they want to. However, make no mistake that they can lure you if they want to.” Xander stared at his boss, his thoughts tumbling around in his mind.

On the one hand, he wanted to believe all he was hearing. He had never known his boss to lie, and he couldn’t quite understand it now. But hell, if he could buy what was being talked about! Vampires just seemed so make-believe to him. Kids’ stories and urban legends. Xander watched his boss and slowly shook his head.

“Proof?” Dave chuckled as he squashed his stick.

“Besides that it’s me and I would have no reason to steer you wrong?” There was that, but Xander just couldn’t bring himself to agree. “When you become a bite slave for a vampire, they mark you. It’s a form of protection, but it’s also a form of ownership. It’s not a tattoo and it will never fade, even if the human walks away. The location of where said mark is placed is between the two parties, but usually, it’s left up to the bite slave, as they will have to be the ones revealing it.” Dave glanced around, making sure no one was around, and then lifted up his shirt, exposing two perfect fang marks on the top of his stomach. Xander ran his fingers over the mark, feeling the reality of them. “They’re real,” his boss muttered, the sound of his regret going deep.

“That’s not a really good tattoo, right?”

“Sorry, no. I don’t know what’s going on in their world, again, quiet bunch. But if a newbie vampire is dead, that’s not good. For them, or for us. You’re going to want to be careful about this case, for what little information you will get it. Trust me, Xander, you’re going to have a lot of sleepless nights because of who you’re dealing with.” Dave pulled his shirt down and turned to walk away but paused. “Did she tell you where to reach her at?”

“She said you’d know where to go.” Dave laughed before shrugging.

“Any night owl worth their grain of salt is at a club. Think of the most sinister place, and you’ll find her.” With those parting words, Xander watched his boss walk off, leaving him more confused. Where the hell would he even begin to start looking for a club like that? And he still had a few hours on his shift. He wasn’t even sure that she would be around to talk to him when he got done.

Xander checked his watch and sighed. Could he use the excuse of following a lead to head to some club? It wasn’t a total lie. Jade was a lead, just not one he could really write down in his note file for the case. With a shake of his head, he was pulling out his phone, and asking a friend about any club that would be called sinister.

An hour later, Xander stood outside the door of the club. The lights outside were dark, now even really giving off much light. But the line to get in was around the corner and it looked like not everyone was getting in. In fact, when he called up his friend and asked, and was given this, along with the message to tell the bouncer his friend’s name, Xander wanted to ask if it was a vampire club. But he didn’t have the guts to ask.

So, when he bypassed all the people and spoke to the bouncer, he wasn’t all too surprised that he got in no problem. And once he passed the doorway and felt the vibe, he was making mental notes to talk to his friend. There were all kinds of people around, some on the floor, some in booths, some up on the balcony; and all were doing various things that would get any normal club shut down. Yes, there was something sinister about this place, alright.

Xander wasn’t sure where to even start searching for Jade. He didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself. And he had to at least give himself credit that he didn’t look like a cop. So, the best course of action was to head to the bar and play it off like he knew he was to meet this woman and ask where she was. But when he walked to the long bar along the wall, the last thing he expected to see was the woman he was looking for, staring at him as her lips sank into some guy’s neck. And the last thing he expected to feel was the big ass f*****g wave of jealousy that rolled through his system at seeing that.