Darien

Darien cringed at that and obliged Taylor. “Very well then. I will be listening out.” He turned and walked off in the direction of home. Taylor watched him go and then sprinted off to find his next meal.

Darien got back to his apartment and realized right away that something was wrong. He walked gingerly inside and sniffed as he inhaled the scent of an intruder. He mapped out the place, but there was no one there. Suddenly he raced to his drawer where he kept his card. Sure enough, it wasn’t there. He stood there looking at the empty spot for what seemed like an eternity as if it would materialize again as he looked. He looked back to his balcony and realized that he had left his door open as he always did. Only a vampire could get in since he was on the top floor and there were no adjoining apartments where anyone could skip over. It hadn’t been Taylor and his cronies either, so it had to be the visiting rogues. They had taken things very personally.

As he stood there, his phone began to ring. “Are you sitting down?” asked Weston.

“Why? What is it?” he asked, concern now etched on his face.

“The police just discovered another body. They also found your badge next to her.”

Darien could not believe his ears. Why had he left it at home when he knew the situation?

“You are going to have to come in just like David until they have this sorted out.”

“Come in? You must be joking. Are you aware this may never get sorted out? They are doing this to get at me. The sooner I come in, the sooner they stop and leave town. No, I am not coming in. I am going out to find them.”

“Darien, that might be dangerous,” Weston pleaded.

“It is already dangerous. They are framing me because I told them to leave town. Well, I will be damned if I am going to have them drive me out of town or have me locked up. I have to clear my name. You do what you have to on your side, but I can’t just sit in lock up while the world determines my fate.”

“I will keep you posted.”

As soon as he hung up Weston turned to Michael. He isn’t going to come in. We may need to find all the legitimate law abiding non-humans and get them to register. As far as the government is concerned, they would like them all to come in so that they can exonerate the legal residents. They will not think kindly to Darien taking matters into his own hands.”

“No, they won’t.  We need to get to them fast, or they will all be rounded up and hauled off to God knows what fate. They won’t tolerate one more killing and these new vampires are wreaking havoc. Maybe it is good that he hunts them down, rather than us, because he is better equipped. Money can’t buy the resources he needs and even if it could, he would be able to afford it still.

The gentlemen agreed and then Weston placed a direct call to the agency in authority of these matters. He tried to have them see reason in launching an operation, but in light of three deaths in close succession, their visions were blinded. He told them Darien would not be coming in and they urged him to have him consider the repercussions if he did not; he could be killed on the spot. Weston told them that he understood and then hung up.

He looked over at Michael with a worried look. “Not only will they kill them if they get to them first, but they are actually going in search of them.”

“I hope Darien knows what he is doing,” said Michael.

They both shared worried glances and stepped from the office, closing it quietly as they did. It was the dawn of a new day and things were not looking up. If anything, things could not get any worse.