Heretic Blood

The next morning, Zacky and Alice walked into the police department. They took the elevator up to the homicide department, hoping to find whoever was handling the recent vampire killings. The department smelled like coffee and sugary donuts. Desk and cubicles were littered with stacks of paper. Detectives talked amongst themselves.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” A blonde woman appeared, stopping them from walking further. A pencil stuck through her bun. She deliberately didn’t make eye contact with Zacky.

“Um, I need to see a detective,” Alice said. “I have some information on the Long Beach murders.”

The woman’s eyes widened and she pressed his lips into a line. “Follow me.”

Alice followed the woman with Zacky in tow. She stopped at an office door and knocked twice before popping her head in.

“Detective, someone needs to meet with you,” She said.

He motioned for her to let them in. She stepped aside, ushering Alice and Zack into the office. She let afterwards, closing the door behind her.

The detective was an older, balding man. He had stress lines on his forehead and wrinkles at his eyes. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the most talked about vampire around.

“If you’re here to turn yourself in…” He started.

“He’s not,” Alice cut him off strongly.

“Well then,” The man stood from his desk chair, smoothing out his charcoal gray suit jacket. “Detective Parker and I know who you are, Zack Baker.” He shook Zacky’s hand. “And you are?”

“Alice,” She spoke, shaking his hand too. “Zacky and I are close friends.”

All three of them sat down in a chair at the same time.

“So what brings you here if not that,” Parker asked very nonchalantly, looking between both of them.

The city police were a little more lenient than the hunters. The hunters were an angry mob. They were hateful towards anything that wasn’t human. They often tried to take over the city’s jobs and take matters into their own hands. By law, they were not to interfere with matters involving co-existent beings but they did anyway.

Alice removed her hair from her neck, the bite mark in plain sight for Parker to see.

“This is Zack’s bite mark,” She told him confidently. “I allowed him to mark me for this purpose. I want this photographed and tested because I think someone’s framing him.”

“I guess we can do that,” The older man nodded. “As long as it’s not a waste of time and money for the department. I’ll call forensics right now.”

Zack and Alice turned their heads to look at each other while the detective made his brief phone call. Zack hoped her plan would work, but Alice knew it was going to.

“Alright,” Parker hung up his phone. “Someone in forensics will be waiting for you. Take the elevator down to the basement and go down the hall on your left.”

“Thank you,” Alice said, standing up.

“No problem,” He said and then turned to face the vampire. “If it’s not you doing this, then I want to know who the hell is.”

---

In the forensics lab, Alice sat patiently and still as the tech took photos of the bite at every angle. She used a magnifying glass to inspect it. Then, she used a cotton swab to collect the DNA, setting the swab on a petri dish.

“We’re about done,” The tech, Carol, said. “It’s really not too bad of a bite. Bet it hurt like hell, though.”

Alice nodded slightly and Carol glanced at Zack. It was like she dealt with supernatural creatures all the time. She showed no sign of fear despite the fact that he was being accused of murder.

Zacky was one of the few vampires left and also one of the most well-known. He was harmless for the most part, and that’s why the city was shocked to find out about the murders.

Carol went to get a mold and she came back holding it between her gloved fingertips.

“Sometimes signature marks can change when the teeth shift,” She explained to Alice and Zacky. “We’ll compare this new mold to the old mold, Alice’s bite, and the victims’ marks.”

She instructed for him to open his mouth wide. His canines instinctively grew into sharp fangs at the thought of biting into something.

“Bite down as hard as you can,” She told him, placing the mold between his front teeth.

Without hesitation, Zacky clamped down on the mold, his fangs piercing it through and through. The tech pulled the mold from his mouth, looking at it and then setting it aside to be tested.

“That’s a wrap,” Carol said. “Either I or someone else will call you with the results.”

Alice and Zacky thanked her for her work before heading down the hall and returning to the elevators. Enclosed in the elevator, Zacky and Alice exchanged hopeful glances.