Chapter 20

  The day after the fire fight with Lady Suvilia, Susan Collins as she was called in the police report, Hank invited Eleanor to join him, Kramer and Scott for a celebratory drink. They stopped a killer, they did their jobs. Hank was sitting at the point after when BARTENDER brought them their usual shot on the house.

  “We did something good,” Hank said, raising his glass, “Dad would be proud,” he smiled as Scott raised his drink to click with his.

  “Always,” Scott said as they each took their drink down.

  “I don’t get one, I was in the shit too,” Kramer said.

  “Yeah, but your Dad wasn’t in the shit with Filmore while they were in Iraq, sorry Kramer,” Scott smiled as he ordered a round of beers for the table, “Four, we got another guest coming,” he said.

  “Yeah, ol’Hank’s lady love,” Kramer smiled, “Trust you’ve been getting some time with her?” he asked.

  “Took her to Olive Garden,” Hank said, “I think it’s been going well,” he smiled.

  Filmore asked a waitress to fetch four drinks for the table, “Heard you boys were tied up in something wild, that fire on Simmons, news said some bitch went crazy, and then you go on and take down Trevor Ellis, you took down a millionaire,” he said.

  “Scott’s first firefight, you know that kind of stress don’t you Filmore?” Hank said.

  Filmore patted Scott’s shoulder, “You’ll put some grit on him yet,” he said, “I can tell you that as a bartender, I’ve heard people worried they’d be next, that killing you solved, good job boys,” he said, smiling.

  “Where’s Eleanor?” Scott asked.

  “Her shift ended at five, it’s seven now. I know we gave her a load to work with, but hopefully she’s not pulling another all-nighter,” Hank said as Eleanor walked in. Her hair was down, and Scott and Kramer noticed she was wearing a bit more makeup than usual.

  “Hello boys,” she smiled, taking a seat in the booth next to Hank.

  Kramer raised his beer, “To a job well done, and not being the one who took a fucking bullet today,”

  “Cheers to that,” Scott said, clicking his beer with Kramer and Hank’s.

  “Not usually a beer drinker, but I’ll get in on this,” Eleanor smiled, raising her drink to click with the others, and taking a swig.

  “So is it really is over?” Scott said, “We got the killer, Trevor is probably going to use some high dollar lawyer and get a deal with his testimony, but we took out the killer. We did it, right? We actually did it,” he said.

  “It’s as over as it’s going to be,” Eleanor said, “We can get Susan’s DNA, match it to the scene, that with Trevor’s testimony is enough to settle this, he’ll probably work a deal, maybe get five to ten for being a mere accomplice, but he’s screwed when he gets out, doubt he’ll be able to sell another app after this,” Eleanor said, taking another drink of beer. “The Victim, Trevor, and Susan, that’s all three blood types, case is closed,” she said.

  Hank furrowed his eyebrows, “What I can’t get is that crazy rambling she went on about during the shootout, Dark One, coming war, being a messenger, what kind of nonsense was that?” he asked.

  “Suvilia, I mean Susan, she was a high player in Vampire Game. It looks like she took it a bit too seriously, must have been the one to rope Trevor into it, thought she was actually a Vampire and way over-reacted to the new scenario Trevor was allegedly working with the creators of the game to write,” he said. “I’ve been thinking, Amelia knows a lot about these Vampire players, we could probably get some witnesses, I bet Jacobin in his role as leader probably made some enemies, a few more character witnesses to testify against him, couldn’t hurt,” Scott said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if, feeling high and mighty as he was, he didn’t get a little handy with some girls at these parties. Suvilia may have been his main squeeze, but that type of guy, that kind of money, I bet there would be some women who would love the chance to take him a down a few more pegs than we’re already going too, some guys too, with the top dog at the food-chain being gone that little cocktail party is probably ripe for regime change, I bet those nerds are probably scrambling to figure out who the new leader is going to be,” he said.

  “You really think they’re still going to have these parties? They just found out their leader, and their leader’s girlfriend are serial killers,” Kramer said, “I would think that might be a bit of a hamper on all the fun they’ve been having,” Kramer took a drink of beer.

  “You haven’t seen how these parties operate, they’re into some weird shit. I’d bet this is only going to embolden them to play the game even harder,” Scott said. “Amelia told me it was grim fun, very grim fun, the fact that two of these dorks actually were responsible for the evil we’ve seen, I think they’re going to eat it up,” Scott said.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Eleanor put her drink down, “What I don’t get is why a millionaire would aid a serial killer, from what you told me about the interrogation, he doesn’t fit the usual profile for a murderer,” she said.

  Kramer put his beer down and hailed his hand for another round, “I can field this one, you’re right, he may be the one whose going to go down for this. But from what he says, it was the crazy broad we took down that was doing all the dirty work. It might be hard to imagine, being a woman, but if you’re a guy, a guy whose had no luck with women, then you make a couple million dollars and start getting all this attention. You’d probably be willing to follow her to whatever hell she was going to lead you in, he was probably susceptible, that pussy must have been pretty good,” Kramer said, he turned to Scott, “Are you sure the Vampire girl you’ve been romancing isn’t as fucked up as these people were?”

  “She’s not,” Scott said, “She’s just a player, she was pretty popular at the party, but she’s just a player,” Scott repeated.

  “Hopefully after this you can convince her to find a new hobby,” Hank said.

  Filmore brought them another round, Eleanor spoke up, “Scott, you were a reporter, do you have any idea what the media is going to say?” she asked.

  Scott raised his eyebrows, “Most likely that our brave boys and blue, and a brave CSI investigator,” he said, pointing to himself, “Got information on a serial killer and took down a great menace to our community,”

  “You are so lucky she shot first,” Hank said, “You’re sure your permits are good right? Because I had to explain to brass that you were in self-defense mode, after all with what we saw, and on the record, your .22 wasn’t what did her in, it was Kramer’s fucking magnum that took her out,” Hank said.

  “My papers are good, self-defense,” Scott said, “And you told me this job would be easy,” Scott smiled.

  “Welcome to law enforcement, nothing’s easy,” Hank said.

  “So, I have nothing to worry about, as you said I wasn’t in regulation,” Scott said, “I’m still a civilian, so I won’t get in any trouble for adding just as much led to that bitch as you do?” he asked.

  Hank shook his head, “These were extenuating circumstances, no one would judge you for trying to protect yourself. She had a Desert Eagle for Christ’s sake.” Hank said.

  “Where the hell did she get one of those anyway,” Kramer asked.

  “I have no idea,” Hank turned to Eleanor, “You’re the smartest person at the table, any idea why a girl playing Vampire would have a desert eagle?”

  “I have no idea what a Desert Eagle is, and I have no idea why she would have one,” she said, taking another drink of beer.

  “Who cares where she got it,” Scott said, “We solved it, it’s done,” he said, “I just don’t know what I’m going to tell Amelia, she really loved the game,” he said.

  Kramer took a drink, “As long as she doesn’t use some crazy Vampire good pussy powers to convince you to aid in a murder, you should be fine.”

  “The next meeting is Friday, Jacobin already rented the house. Should be all astir with what’s gone down. I’ll ask around, see if we can find someone who can contribute to the conviction,” Scott said, “Amelia’s cool, I think this can be enough to open her to new interests, she loves the game and I hate that this is going to ruin it for her, but I think I can make this work, she really likes me, wanted to turn me,” Scott smiled.

  “Turn you?” Kramer asked.

  “Yeah, she said I could have been a high ranking Vampire, hopefully after seeing the business high ranking Vampires actually get into, she’ll rethink her interests,” Scott said, “At least I hope to god she will,” he shook his head.

  “Get some information for Amelia, you said she was a big player, she might know something we can use against Trevor, she was there when you got drugged, right?” he asked.

  “She was there, woke up with just as many questions as I did, said she had no idea what happened that night,” Scott said.

  “Are you sure?” Eleanor asked, “I mean, from what you say, if she was as high ranking in this Vampire club as you say she is, do you really believe that was the first time she dragged some guy to something like this?”

  “I don’t know,” Scott said, “I’ve heard her talk about other servants she’s had, called us Damanes but she’s just really into the game, that’s all it is, a game. One that Jacobin and Suvilia took way to far, but it’s just a game,” Scott said, “A crazy, fucked up, murderous game, but Amelia’s different,” Scott said.

  “You sound pretty sure,” Kramer said.

  “She’s just a little dark, that’s all. Hopefully, this can be a wake-up call and I can start dating her on normal terms,” Scott said.

  “I told you, the Vampire players are a pretty messed up bunch,” Eleanor said, “If anything, it sounds like this may make her and the other players more emboldened to continue their charade,” she said, “Who knows, if this Amelia character likes you, if she has some clot as you say, enough to get you into that blood drinking ritual, if she likes you enough she might recommend you be the new leader,” she looked to Hank, “That would probably be a bad idea right?”

  “That would be a terrible idea,” Hank said, “Questions are going to be asked about this group, your old flame Jennifer is probably going to be poking her nose into it when she finds out that the killers who gave her a front-page story are involved with it. You don’t want to be within ten miles of this horse shit when the story breaks, you’re meeting her later, right? You think you can convince her to drop the game?” he asked.

  “I got to try,” Scott said, “She’s a good person, just got a little wrapped up with the wrong people, I can convince her, I know I can,” Scott said.

  “Hold on,” Kramer said, “This bitch drank blood?” he asked.

  “Tricked into drinking blood, and it’s not blood. What did you call it, Eleanor?” Scott asked.

  “Adrenochrome, a drug synthesized from human blood. It was in Scott’s system after the ritual he told me he took part in. I did some more research on it, it’s purest form is found from subjects that go through extreme stress before its, harvested,” Eleanor shuddered at that word, but it was the most appropriate for the situation, “What you took most likely came from the victims, they may have actually been tortured before they were killed. If that can’t convince her that the Vampire life is too messed up to continue, nothing will.”

  “Yeah, granted she didn’t get bit, but she woke up just as fucked as I was. Like I said, she just got a little too deep in the game, same as I did. Hopefully, with that and the fact that the people who gave it to us were murderers, she might rethink her little hobby,” Scott said.

  “When’s the next party?” Kramer asked, “When’s the next meeting of your little Vampire club?”

  “Tonight actually, I’m going to go see Amelia after this, tell her the real story, tell her what happened, wish me luck,” Scott said.

  Hank smiled, “Touchdowns are in inches, not yards, remember?” Hank smiled.

  “I’ll try,” Scott said, tapping his beer to hanks before finishing it.