Hunting Death

Chapter 22

Madison printed out almost everything she found on Dr. Keith Welker Ph.D. DVM. From his birth and his family records to research, he'd done while working for the CDC and the National Institute for Health. She also printed out a paper citing a chemical compound he'd discovered to better aid in the healing process during his residency while studying at the Maryland School of Veterinary Medicine.

The one he graduated from in 1997.

Madison was even lucky enough to stumble across a picture of Keith and his graduating class from way back in 1978, and surprise surprise, it didn't look like he'd aged a day.

Grabbing everything she'd printed out, Madison ran back to the main house and into the safe room, wanting to check something from her father's research. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for either, so she re-read a section on lycans and the oldest known lycan, a French woman who lived to the age of a hundred and twenty-two before dying in the late nineties.

Because she wanted to be sure she covered her tracks, Madison used the laptop in the safe room to look her up and noted how the woman had indeed aged. Which meant Keith wasn't a werewolf. God, she didn't understand why she was even considering this. She'd only decided a few months ago that she believed the possibility of magic existed after a recent camping trip with Ona. She'd gone to the river to clean up and when she came back, Madison watched in stunned silence while her friend started a fire simply by snapping her fingers together.

Ona explained her heritage to Madison after that and showed her a few "parlor tricks" as she'd called them. The experience changed everything for Madison, it really opened her mind to the unknown. Despite Ona's very real powers though, she was still having a hard time believing the things she'd read in her father's safe. The whole ghost thing was obviously real and easier to accept, however, having experienced it first hand.

But werewolves and vampires?

If either of those existed why hadn't they taken over the earth? If vampires were so mighty and all powerful why would they hide in the shadows? What did they have to be so afraid of? People? What could people do?

And werewolves? Really? Her father expected her to have blind faith in the belief that people could turn into animals? It all sounded so insane! Furthermore, she was supposed to believe she came from a long line of werewolves herself, if true, why didn't she turn into one?

Hell, even if she DID buy into the whole werewolves fairytale, why did it matter? Keith clearly wasn't one. So what did it make him? A vampire? What a ridiculous notion!

A ridiculous notion which made so much sense when she actually considered it.

Keith's skin felt cold to the touch, his eyes practically glowed, he stored blood in his refrigerator and little else, and according to her findings, he was at least seventy years old.

But what about the other things? Some things didn't add up with the vampire rhetoric. Like how vampires were supposed to be extremely sensitive to sunlight. While true that her father's findings and explanations didn't completely expand on exactly how sensitive they were, Keith didn't seem to have any problems.

He also ate meat and salad and drank water. Whereas Madison assumed vampires would only be satisfied by the taste of blood. Some things didn't fit, they didn't make sense. And even if all true, if Keith was some sort of super vampire or something, why would her father, who obviously knew, do everything in his power to befriend and protect him?

She had so many questions, and with Keith getting arrested, she had no idea how she'd get the answers. It became obvious to her that he did, in fact, possess the proper certification to practice medicine, but how did she prove it? 'Oh, here you go officer, this is proof that Keith Walker, or Welker, whatever you want to call him, is licensed. Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say? This man who looks thirty is almost seventy?'