The Scroll of Osiris: An Eva & Lilura Novel

Chapter 1 Eva I was reading over the latest business proposal my team put together when my office phone started to ring. I set my red pen down and answered. On the other end was the cleaner Elise. “There’s a dead vampire in Krutch Park. I need you to come down here immediately,” Elise informed me.                                                                                                                                                          “Alright, I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I told her and sighed. I packed up my papers and grabbed my purse, there was no way I would be able to finish my work now that a vampire was dead. It was unusual, vampires don’t just die. Usually, they are dusted or killed by a wolf. Elise wouldn’t be calling me if this had been a normal killing, she and her team were fully capable of handling those. I walked out of my office and told my secretary that she could go home as I waited for the elevator. Once outside I walked diagonally across the street into the park. I could hear Elise and her crew talking about the dead vampire. They were a little ways into the park by one of the many sculptures. It was a secluded spot with lots of large oak trees. Elise turned around as I approached. “What do we have Elise?” I asked as I stepped around the group to look at the dead vampire. I recognized him, he was new from this year’s turning, Andrew was his name. I would have to remember to tell his girlfriend. “We have a dead vampire with missing fangs and there appears to be no sign of a struggle,” Elise told me. “Who found Andrew?” I asked her. “One of his friends, we sent him home after getting his statement. They were out at the pizzeria waiting for a snack and Andrew left early so he could see his girlfriend. Fifteen minutes later his friend spots him lying on the ground and he is dead.” “Hmm, and I suppose he didn’t see anyone?” “No there was no one around. He called us and we searched the area and didn’t find anything.” “Alright, take him to the lab and do an autopsy and clean the area. We don’t need a human stumbling upon this.” “Yes ma’am.” Elise and her crew got to work. I pulled out my phone and texted Marcus the head of our clan to let him know I needed to speak with him. He let me know he was at the Clan house. I walked through the rest of the park and down Gay street toward my apartment building the Tennessee Pearl. This was one of my business ventures to move our clan into the future. I bought an abandoned building, tore it down and built an apartment building with 100 apartments to house some of our clan. It’s across the street from a cute bistro and wine bar, that I like to visit with my friend Lilura. We do have a large clan home on ninety acres just a ten minutes’ drive from here where Marcus and some of the more traditional vampires of our coven live, there just wasn’t enough space in the house for everyone to continue living there. I walked up to my apartment building where two of our vampire guards stood out front. They were dressed like any human doorman, so humans wouldn’t be suspicious. The Tennessee Pearl was the talk of the town a secure apartment building with high tech security and guards. Many of Knoxville’s citizens wanted to live there, but it’s vampires only. Not that they know that. The guards opened the large wooden doors and I entered the main lobby. It’s a grand lobby, the ceiling is two stories high, the floors marble, and the furniture modern and comfortable. Also, on this main level were a gym, pool, infirmary, security office, and restaurant. I took my private elevator up to my penthouse. I took my key out of my purse and unlocked my door entering my penthouse. The style of my penthouse is bohemian midcentury modern. I love all the bright white paint and warm wood tones of the floor, with all my green fake plants, and fun pops of color in my decor. I set my paperwork on my island and went to my bedroom taking off my four-inch stilettos returning to my five-foot-two height. I changed out of my Dolce & Gabbana pencil skirt and polka dot chiffon V-neck blouse and into jeans and a t-shirt and a pair of my favorite heeled boots. I did a quick check in the mirror and returned to my living room and grabbed my purse off the table. I locked my door and rode my elevator down to the lobby. I waved at some members of my clan as I walked out the door. “Can you have my car brought around?” I asked one of the guards. He turned on his earpiece and had my car brought around. I thanked him and got in my Prius and drove away. I made my way quickly through downtown into North Knoxville. There was no traffic at this time of day, at three-thirty all the humans were home sleeping. I exited North Knoxville into a subdivision area, each year the humans moved closer and closer to our clan home, soon the area would be surrounded by humans. Once out of the subdivision about two miles up the road I turned into the driveway of the Clan home stopping at the gate. Our ninety acres of land was surrounded by a ten-foot-tall concrete wall and a massive steel gate. The guards opened the gate and I drove down the treelined driveway until I reached the clan home. It was a very large southern mansion. Marcus and I built it when we first arrived here in Tennessee in 1850, back then our clan was much smaller, spread out between the different clan homes we established in the country. Now our clan here was three hundred and Marcus began building an addition to the mansion, that’s one of the reasons he let me build the apartment building. I got out of my Prius and a vampire took my car to the garage. While I was escorted to the door and let in. My clan members were wandering around finishing up their daily tasks before heading to bed. We had a split schedule for our vampires, half worked at night and the other worked during the day. Sunlight does not kill us like most humans think, it drains us just to the point of death though, but that’s only if we are in the direct sun for too long. There’s no sunbathing at the pool for us. I made my way upstairs to Marcus’s office where he was just finishing up a phone call. I waited patiently outside the door until he was ready for me. “Come in Eva,” Marcus called to me through the door. I opened his office door and found him sitting at his desk taking a sip out of a glass of blood. “What did you want to speak with me about?” He asked. “Andrew was found dead in Krutch park; his fangs were missing. I am having Elise do an autopsy,” I told him gently. He always took the death of a clan member hard. Marcus ran a hand through his hair and took another drink of blood. “Why do an autopsy?” “There was no sign of an attack, his fangs were the only thing missing which is strange. A werewolf would have just torn him to shreds, a witch would never attack a vampire and the Fae don’t care enough about us to kill one of us.” “I don’t know it sounds like a werewolf to me, you know how we used to take their pelts. They have probably decided it’s their turn to take our fangs,” Marcus told me. “I remember, but why were there no defensive wounds? Even Andrew being so new would have been able to defend and kill a werewolf. Something seems off about his death.” “I don’t know, our relationship with the werewolves have been strained lately, maybe they decided to send a message by killing him. I want you to find out who killed Andrew, I must tell his girlfriend Lily.” “Do you want me to, I know you have a difficult time with that.” “No, I will do it. Go investigate,” Marcus told me dismissing me. I left his office and, on my way, back to my car I called Elise. “Hello?” “It’s Eva. Have you found anything yet?” “No, not yet. We cleaned the scene and are back at the lab with Andrew. Our coroner and lab tech should be here first thing in the morning. My crew and I need to head to a cleanup, then we are off. I will have the coroner call you when she’s finished.” “Thank you. Have a good night.” I ended the call got in my car and checked the time. It was already four, I had a very narrow window to look around the crime scene before humans would be taking their morning runs. I trusted Elise and her team when they told me they didn’t find anything, but I wondered if any cameras caught what happened. I parked my car at my office building and walked around the perimeter of the park looking at security cameras to see if any might have caught the murder. None of the cameras were directly facing the area of the park where Andrew was murdered, but some may have caught people entering and exiting the park and one could be his murderer. I returned to my car and drove home. I would have to wait till daytime when all the buildings around the park were open. I entered my apartment and took my phone out of my purse and put it in my pocket before hanging my purse on a hook. I opened my refrigerator and took out a jar of my favorite blood and took a drink of my dinner. I grabbed my work documents off my table and headed to my living room to work for a while before heading to bed.   I woke up on my couch paperwork spread everywhere and my empty dinner glass sitting on the corner of the table. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at the time, it was two in the afternoon. I stretched and put all my papers back together and set them on my dining table and rinsed my glass and put it in the dishwasher. I went to my bedroom and grabbed out some clean comfy clothes and took a shower. I wrapped my long dark hair in my towel and did my regular morning routine and dressed, in a short boho style dress and sandals. I grabbed my phone and purse and walked down Gay street to Krutch park. Tourists and locals walked down the street going in and out of shops. I entered the first place with a security camera aimed at the park. I walked straight to the first employee that I saw. “Can I see your security footage from last night?” I asked using my compulsion. “Sure, follow me.” The employee said. I followed him and he let me rewind to half an hour before Andrews murder. I watched the time sped by. I saw a couple of people go through the park and then no one until Andrew entered, and he wasn’t followed. Then fifteen minutes later I saw a vampire I recognized as his friend. I didn’t see a killer unless one of those people who entered waited to kill him. I rewound again and looked at the different people entering the park. It was dark and I couldn’t tell if any of them were werewolves or another supernatural being. “Thank you. You will forget that I was here and asked to see the security video,” I told the employee. I left and headed to a*****e at the other end of the park. I hoped to have better luck. It was the same, I recognized the people from the first stores video, and no one stayed behind. I continued around the park to the left side, maybe someone didn’t use a path and made their own. Again, I looked through the footage and saw nothing, so I continued around to the right side of the park and reviewed the footage. This time there was someone who entered and exited the park, but the video was of horrendous quality and I couldn’t tell who or what type of supernatural that figure was. It was mostly a dark grainy pixilated figure moving into and out of the park. I recorded it with my phone so I could show Marcus. I left the store and headed right for the area that the murderer went though and used my senses to see if I could track the murderer too and from the area, but there were too many humans and other smells masking the scent I was looking for. I was extremely frustrated and hoped the coroner and lab tech found something helpful. I still had two and a half hours before the book club with Lilura, so I grabbed my car and went to tell Marcus what I found so far.