Solving the Vampire Murders

forty-two

"Yes," Jones said, answering Torren's unspoken question. "That is a vamp."

Rolling his lips together, Torren watched the pale woman as she glided forward. Thick, dark hair coiled atop her head. Blood red lips pursed. Bony knuckles as white as the chunky pearls draped around her throat. Hauntingly beautiful in the way only a predator can be.

The ghost with the red-tipped hair and bloody neck seemed adamant that he confront the monster. She kept trying to hold his hand and tug in his t-shirt. Each time her transparent limbs came in contact with flesh, a chill wracked his shoulders.

Stay, she mouthed. Her plea soundless but resolute. Stay.

Jones groaned once the decision to stand his ground solidified, but Torren didn't relent. Digging his thumbs into the pockets of his dress pants, he waited. Zach breathing heavily over his shoulder. Austin standing rigidly beside Jones.

"Was this part of the plan?" Zach whispered uncertainly. His coal suitcoat straining underneath new muscles. "Did Mandy dye her hair or something?"

Austin clucked his tongue. "You're so much cuter when your mouth is closed. Especially now."

"Blessed are those that revel in the night," said the vampire. She was close enough that Torren could smell the metallic tang on her breath. "If you're searching for the entrance to the nightclub, it's around front."

"Right," Torren replied. Grasping for ideas. "Sorry to bother you, but we were looking for our friend. I thought she might have gotten lost back here. Have you seen her? "Her name is Mandy Laytham."

Pulling out his phone, Torren scrolled to a picture of Mandy. The vampire considered the image for a moment, a smile forming on her red lips.

"You are aquatinted with Amanda?"

"Yes," Torren answered quickly. "Yes, we are. Can you tell me where she is?"

Torren's gaze slid to the ghost dancing around the vampire, and with horror, he realized their faces were the same. Like, this ghost was an imprint of the human she used to be.

"Regrettably, I do not. Amanda was supposed to meet me this evening for a walk through the woods, but..." the woman clasped her hands together, "she never showed. Perhaps she and Faris got carried away downstairs or some nonsense."

Torren tried to push out all the other odd details and focused wholly on her meaning. Mandy could still be inside the club. Maybe she didn't get service inside. Perhaps this was a huge misunderstanding.

"Do you think you could show us where she might be?"

Jones cleared her throat, but Torren ignored her. This was it. This woman knew where Mandy was.

"I couldn't take you down to the basement level, but you could wait upstairs in the lounge. It's quieter than that horrid nightclub."

"Thank you," Torren gasped. "Yes, we can wait. Thank you so much."

The vampire dipped her head. "It is my pleasure. Any friend of Amanda's is a friend of mine."

As Torren followed behind the vampire, Jones kept muttering under her breath. Zach was practically skipping up to the door. Meanwhile, Austin's eyes had taken up a magical cast. Like polar ice on a bright summer day.

"Keep your cool," Torren told Austin as they waited for the vampire to enter her code into a security lock. "No flaming out."

Austin rolled his eyes, and they returned to the deep brown of his transformed body.

The group climbed a set of steep stairs that seemed to go on forever. Torren was anxious to see Mandy, every step closer to ending this nightmare.

"Back so soon?" Came a disappointed voice from the top of the stairs. "I thought you'd be out all night."