The Vampire’s Huntress

Chapter 5- Bite Mark Specialist

A knock sounded outside my office. My shift hadn’t technically started. I had snuck in early to look over reports in quiet peace. Who could have possibly known I was there?

The shadow of the figure standing outside my covered windows wasn’t the chief nor was it Malcolm. Curiosity drove me to my feet.

I opened the door.

A man six-two or six-three stood before me in gray slacks, a white button shirt, with a matching gray coat perfectly tailored to him. His suit coat accentuated his broad shoulders. Glasses covered his dark brown eyes, there was a hollowness to them, yet they appeared to see everything at once. He had thin lips and I could smell shaving cream. My eyes finally ended up on his black hair. Blacker than the midnight sky, which contrasted with his pale tan skin. It appeared as if it used to be a blazing brilliance. Like the golden sand when the sun set across a beach. But now, it had lost its brilliance to become faded and pale. It appeared his skin was more like the morning sparkle across frozen snow.

“Can I help you?” I crossed my arms. “If you’re looking for a detective for a personal investigation or have information for one of our ongoing cases, you can speak to the front, and they will set you up with who you are supposed to talk to. I’m not available right now.”

I took a step away, my hand on the handle already closing the door, when his hand abruptly stopped the door’s progress. I looked up, annoyed and surprised.

“What if I am supposed to speak to you? What if I am an expert in a field you are currently curious about? What if I can help you in your ongoing case, Detective Kilton?”

His voice had a deep richness to it. It vibrated low through the air to me as his accent and words held a formal regal tone.

The way he peered at me and something in his eyes made a lull in my thoughts, as if I wanted to trust him. I wanted to let him in my office and believe whatever he tells me. I felt a strange wave of enticement to want to hang onto every word he says and trust him completely. It almost made my head enter a dreamlike moment of feeling wrapped in a blanket, relaxed and trusting. All I had to do was let him in.

But he was a stranger, a thought deep inside me spoke. The cautionary thought made me turn my head away, rubbing my temples, before scrutinizing my intruder. He appeared pleased by something I didn’t understand.

“I will need to see your credentials before I even let you in, and tell me what exactly you can do for me.”

“Of course.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his identification and handed it to me.

Dr. Covin Castillian, Forensic Odontologist, bite mark analysis.

I glanced up at Dr. Castillian. He said, “I received an email from a colleague who said he was recently given pictures of bite marks, and thought I could offer insight.”

“Which colleague?”

“Dr. Steven Abrams.”

I knew Steven and worked with him on several cases as he was a skilled forensic scientist.

“Okay.” I held the door open. “You have my attention.”

He entered my small office and sat on the chair opposite of the desk.

“I see it’s pretty well organized.”

All my work was neatly stored away or in piles.

“Except for that one.” He pointed to a large worn file in the far corner nearly hidden from his point of view. I pushed it away. It was my mother’s file.

“Working progres.”

“I have heard of your skill. You are quite the detective with quite the success you’ve had riding fast to this position and at such a young age. I doubt you have had any difficulty with cases, even ones that have gone cold.”

His eyes shifted back to where the worn file laid. This man did see far too much.

I took out the pictures of the puncture marks of Brittney and Sara laying them before him.

“Take your time. Tell me what you can see.”

He didn’t grab the pictures. In fact, he barely looked at the photographs before saying, “No swelling, no redness. Two clean marks. No scabbing either. But I am sure it will scar.”

“Can you identify what did it?”

I put my palms on the table and leaned forward, waiting for his response.

“To provide such a clean incision with no other symptoms of agitation, you are looking for a creature that also inserts saliva with chemicals like numbing agents, vasodilators-“

I cut him off. “Please Dr. Castillian, keep the language simple. I’m not a doctor.”

He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes before putting them on. His eyes squinted in the frames.

“Think of a mosquito. When they bite, they release chemicals into the body. Your body reacts to it by releasing histamine, causing swelling and itching. But this type of creature doesn’t cause the body to release histamine. Meaning the body accepts the saliva released into it as healing so it doesn’t fight back. This saliva, when ready, can even clot the blood, so the victim doesn’t bleed out. Eventually, the wound will close and leave a subtle scar.”

I had to admit, he was giving me quite a bit of useful information.

“You said creature. So it’s an animal?”

Again, he rubbed his eyes. I was now getting the impression that either he didn’t normally wear glasses or he got the wrong prescription.

He said, “Well, it depends on your point of view.”

“So what is this?”

“Depends on your belief in fables.”

I straightened.

The corner of his lips lifted. “Do you believe in vampires?”