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Authors: Dianne Sylvan
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tense, with an edge of shock. His heart sank. There was only one reason the patrol would request his presence on an otherwise peaceful night: another attack. “Alpha Seven?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Location?”
“The 360 entrance to the Barton Creek Greenbelt.”
“I’m on my way.”
During daylight hours the Greenbelt was scattered with joggers and humans walking dogs. The ribbon of trees and brush itself wound around the water, beneath the highway and along the edge of town, and though it was a good place for a run or a nature walk, it was also, unfortunately, a good place to dump a body.
The car pulled up into the parking lot, and by the time he got out the two on-duty patrol leaders were already at his side, giving him the rundown on the attack.
“Is it the same MO as the rest?” he asked.
“No, Sire. It seems the insurgents have upped the ante . . . and they wanted to deliver a very pointed message.”
“I suppose it’s foolish to ask who the message was for,” he mused, following them down the entry path that led to the Greenbelt itself. “How was it discovered?”
“Anonymous tip to APD. They recognized the signs and called it in to us.”
He smelled the body before he saw it. As they turned a corner, the stench of old blood and decaying flesh hit him in a nauseating wave. Contrary to popular myth, vampires didn’t get hungry just from smelling blood—it was the life energy contained within it that they lived on. Seeing blood splashed around a body wasn’t any more appetizing to them than a pile of rotting fruit would be to a human.
The rest of the patrols were clustered around the scene, and as one they rose and bowed to him when he appeared. He nodded, and they returned to their work, gathering parts.
There were a lot of parts.
He stood with his arms crossed and pondered what was in front of him, anger forming a hard knot in his chest.
The Elite had unfolded a plastic tarp on the ground and were lining up the victim’s dismembered remains. Each part was wrapped meticulously in white paper and sealed with masking tape. One of the Elite sliced carefully through the tape and unwrapped each piece to get a better look.
The knot of anger caught fire as he realized what he was seeing.
The human had been methodically butchered. There were no clothes, no personal effects, just parts hacked off at the joints with what looked like a cleaver. The white ends of bone were visible where the legs had been cut at the knee. Flesh had been sheared from the pelvis and wrapped separately from the bones. The rib cage had been sliced into segments, ready for barbecue.
Despite the obvious care taken to wrap the body parts, scavengers had already gotten to several, and so had insects. Flies buzzed everywhere, and at least three of the parcels had been dragged from the central location beneath a tree and ripped open. Blood had soaked through the corners of the packages.
One of the Elite turned away from the package he was opening, looking ashen and sick. At the Prime’s questioning look, he gestured at the package and said, “Organs. Including the tongue.”
“How long has this been out here?” he demanded.
Elite 27 joined him. “We’re thinking since this morning, but it looks like it may have been refrigerated before the dump. I called for an APD forensics team to come in and claim the body—they can give us more details. But it was definitely a vampire—there are fang marks at the jugular. I’m guessing that was the cause of death and the poor bastard was hacked up postmortem.”
“You’re sure it was male?”
“Yes, Sire. The genitals were in their own package. There’s also this . . .”
The Prime went with him over to the tree. Elite 27 pointed at the base of the trunk, where the skull had been left unwrapped.
He knelt next to it, wondering whose life had been stolen and whether he had died in pain—the traces of the human’s death had already faded, which meant he had been dead
“Yes, Sire.”
“Location?”
“The 360 entrance to the Barton Creek Greenbelt.”
“I’m on my way.”
During daylight hours the Greenbelt was scattered with joggers and humans walking dogs. The ribbon of trees and brush itself wound around the water, beneath the highway and along the edge of town, and though it was a good place for a run or a nature walk, it was also, unfortunately, a good place to dump a body.
The car pulled up into the parking lot, and by the time he got out the two on-duty patrol leaders were already at his side, giving him the rundown on the attack.
“Is it the same MO as the rest?” he asked.
“No, Sire. It seems the insurgents have upped the ante . . . and they wanted to deliver a very pointed message.”
“I suppose it’s foolish to ask who the message was for,” he mused, following them down the entry path that led to the Greenbelt itself. “How was it discovered?”
“Anonymous tip to APD. They recognized the signs and called it in to us.”
He smelled the body before he saw it. As they turned a corner, the stench of old blood and decaying flesh hit him in a nauseating wave. Contrary to popular myth, vampires didn’t get hungry just from smelling blood—it was the life energy contained within it that they lived on. Seeing blood splashed around a body wasn’t any more appetizing to them than a pile of rotting fruit would be to a human.
The rest of the patrols were clustered around the scene, and as one they rose and bowed to him when he appeared. He nodded, and they returned to their work, gathering parts.
There were a lot of parts.
He stood with his arms crossed and pondered what was in front of him, anger forming a hard knot in his chest.
The Elite had unfolded a plastic tarp on the ground and were lining up the victim’s dismembered remains. Each part was wrapped meticulously in white paper and sealed with masking tape. One of the Elite sliced carefully through the tape and unwrapped each piece to get a better look.
The knot of anger caught fire as he realized what he was seeing.
The human had been methodically butchered. There were no clothes, no personal effects, just parts hacked off at the joints with what looked like a cleaver. The white ends of bone were visible where the legs had been cut at the knee. Flesh had been sheared from the pelvis and wrapped separately from the bones. The rib cage had been sliced into segments, ready for barbecue.
Despite the obvious care taken to wrap the body parts, scavengers had already gotten to several, and so had insects. Flies buzzed everywhere, and at least three of the parcels had been dragged from the central location beneath a tree and ripped open. Blood had soaked through the corners of the packages.
One of the Elite turned away from the package he was opening, looking ashen and sick. At the Prime’s questioning look, he gestured at the package and said, “Organs. Including the tongue.”
“How long has this been out here?” he demanded.
Elite 27 joined him. “We’re thinking since this morning, but it looks like it may have been refrigerated before the dump. I called for an APD forensics team to come in and claim the body—they can give us more details. But it was definitely a vampire—there are fang marks at the jugular. I’m guessing that was the cause of death and the poor bastard was hacked up postmortem.”
“You’re sure it was male?”
“Yes, Sire. The genitals were in their own package. There’s also this . . .”
The Prime went with him over to the tree. Elite 27 pointed at the base of the trunk, where the skull had been left unwrapped.
He knelt next to it, wondering whose life had been stolen and whether he had died in pain—the traces of the human’s death had already faded, which meant he had been dead
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