I stepped out of the dry cleaners, my arms full of my roommate’s clothes. Squealing tires and a long, deep-sounding horn blared, drawing my attention to the nearby intersection. A tiny car cut off a pickup truck, then proceeded to run a red light. I should probably go after it and issue a ticket or two, but by the time I get to my car, it’ll be long gone. My phone also chose that moment to ring. Juggling the dry cleaning in one arm, I struggled to get the cell phone out of my back pocket.

“Albert.” I answered a little breathless after the struggle.

“Detective.” A husky female voice from the call center responded. “There’s been a murder at Stone’s Parking Garage.”

“Thank you, I’ll be there in ten.”

Reaching my car, I replaced the phone in my hand with my keys and pressed the trunk button. I laid the dry cleaning as flat as possible, then got behind the wheel. Stone’s Parking Garage is Burnstone’s largest and most popular parking garage. It was built next to the city’s largest mall, dividing the newer and older parts of downtown.

I parked my car among other cruisers in the garage, reached over to the glove box and pulled out my gun and badge. Lifting my hips, I attached both items, opened the car door, then grabbed the two coffees I had picked up before getting out. The officer manning the tape line to prevent civilians and journalists from crossing to the crime scene lifted it for me. I nodded a thanks and proceeded to the scene of the crime. It wasn’t hard to find. There’s always a flurry of commotion near the body.

“Detective Albert.” Officer Kyle Anderson walked briskly over.

Out of all the officers working at the Downtown Station, he’s my favourite. His thirst for learning was refreshing to see in such a young officer. Even after two years, he’s still wanting to learn. Standing a few inches taller than my five-foot-three, he felt like my shadow as he followed me toward the body.

“The victim is female.” Kyle informed me. “Unfortunately, she wasn’t carrying any identification on her. Mark is with the body now. I’m going to track down the manager of this parking garage to get access to the CCTVs.”

“Any witnesses?” I asked him.

“None.”

“Who found the body?”

“A civilian who works at the mall. What a way to start the work day.”

I nodded. “Anything else?”

Kyle glanced over to where the body lay. “She looked so young.”

“Anderson!” Officer Rick McGowan, Kyle’s partner, called out to him. “Let’s go, kid.”

“I have to go, Detective.” With a small wave, he rushed off.

“There you are.” My partner, Mario Zuberi, strolled over from the crime scene, now only a couple of feet away. “What took you so long?”

“It’s not my fault they call you first.” I responded bitterly. “What do we have?”

“A murder.”

I paused in handing him the coffee I’d brought to give him a deadpan look. Mario’s brown eyes glittered when he chuckled at me. Completely unfazed by the scowl I shot him, he grabbed for the coffee and angled his body back toward the crime scene.

“You’re going to have to see this one for yourself.” He stated, walking with me to the body.

“Okay?” I raised a brow. “What’s the catch?”

“It’s not a gory scene.” He explained, his lips quirking upward. “In fact, the vampire was quite neat in his attack.”

“There is no such thing as vampires.” I told him flatly.

He stopped at the body. Immediately, I noticed the killer posed the victim. Her hair was swept neatly over her shoulders as she lay on the cold concrete ground with her hands folded over her stomach. I couldn’t tell if the killer dressed her after killing her or if he only straightened her clothing after the murder. It didn’t even look like a crime scene. To any passerby, she looked as though she was sleeping peacefully.

“Only a vampire can drain the body completely of blood.” Mario stated.

“There are medical machines that can do that.” I countered.

“Burst my bubble.” He mumbled teasingly. “This isn’t the first body either.”

Mario is a head taller than me, and he likes to stand close. So when I look up at him, I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. My partner was frowning down at our current victim, his eyes narrowing as if he was glaring at her. He looked annoyed. Mario is almost never annoyed. He’s too laid back to let things get under his skin.

“What do you mean, this isn’t the first body?”

“There were two bodies found last week.” Mario looked over at me, irritation lacing his tone. “I heard some officers talking and looked into it. The files got shuffled around because the Lowertown Station found one body, and our night shift found the other body. No one communicated any similarities, so they were thought of as separate cases.”

“Idiots.” I snipped. “We’ll need to get those files.”

“Already on it. I also informed Chief Sels. He’s going to talk to Lowertown about handling over the case.”

“Good. Those fools take forever to solve their cases.” I returned my focus to our current victim. “The parking lot seems like an odd choice to dump a body. Who knows when someone would stumble upon the scene.”

“These upper floors may not be as well used, but that makes it ideal for a dump.” Mario paused, his gaze on the victim. “Correction, it would have given the killer plenty of time to pose the body without being caught.”

I hummed an agreement. “Where is Mark?”

“Our esteemed medical examiner is over at his trunk.”

Mario’s sarcastically bitter tone wasn’t lost on me. For some reason, he didn’t like Mark, and I never discovered why, despite my curiosity. Since Mario mentioned the M.E. truck, my gaze zeroed in on it. Mark’s back was facing me, but I could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was very unhappy with whatever his assistant had done. I could see her eyes were downcast and her fingers twisted nervously in front of her. Mark finished with her, turned, and strolled over to the body where Mario and I waited.

“You’re going through more assistants than I am with partners.” I teased.

Mark laughed, his irritation easing away. “I’m sure my number is still lower than yours.”

“If she quits, I think we may be on par.” I gestured to the body at my feet. “I’m assuming you’ve already completed your preliminary. What can you tell me about her?”

He crouched down, turning his head with gloved hands. “These marks were interesting.”

“Vampire bite.” Mario declared, like a child saying: I told you so.

“There are no such things as vampires.” I sighed, exasperated.

Mark nodded. “The marks are about an inch apart and equal in width.”

“Probably in depth, too.” Mario said.

“A hemodialysis machine can make these marks and drain the body of its blood.” Mark continued, ignoring my partner. “That’s not what killed this young lady.”

“Oh?” I asked, intrigued. “How did she die?”

Mark stood, removing his gloves. “She has a snapped neck.”

“A very human thing to do.” I smirked over at my partner. “Not a vampire.”

“Fine.” He conceded. “This wasn’t done by a vampire.”

“So Mark, do you have a time of death?”

“Some time between midnight and two am.” He said. “The blood was drained almost immediately, which makes an exact T.O.D. difficult to determine. I’ll be able to find more once she’s on my table.”

“Thanks, Mark.”

“Anytime, Kyrie.” He snapped his fingers. “She has a stamp on the back of her hand.”

Mark used his glove to hold her fingers so we could better see the stamp. It looked recent, as if she hadn’t had a chance to attempt to scrub it off. Stamp ink likes to stick to my skin. It takes me a couple of days to fully remove the mark. This stamp was still bright red, in the shape of a teardrop.

“I don’t recognize it.” I admitted.

“Blood Drop.” Mario said darkly. “The club owner is a vampire.”

“Again with the vampires?”

Mario turned from the body with a sly grin as we began the trek back to our cars. “How about a little bet?”

“What kind of bet?” I asked cautiously.

“I still think vampires are involved somehow, and you don’t believe in them at all.”

“Okay?” I said the word slowly.

“First person to prove their theory to be true wins.”

“Then what do I get as my prize when I win?” I emphasized the pronouns so he understood I wasn’t going to lose.

Mario chuckled, lifting the crime scene tape. “The loser has to complete all the paperwork for this case and the next.”

“You’re on.” I grinned. “Meet you at Blood Drop.”

Mario held my car door open so I could slide inside. I drove off first. The drive gave my mind time to wander. Five years as a detective, and not once has the supernatural been used as a cover for murder. It made me wonder why Mario was so insistent that vampires are involved. I never would have thought that his easy-going personality would ever believe in vampires.

I was the first to arrive at the club, so I parked in the adjacent public parking lot to wait. The brick building was right on the corner. Its neon sign read ‘Blood Drop’ in bright red letters. Nothing about the club looked suspicious. In fact, it seemed rather dull.

I looked up at the sky. Time seemed to slip by while I was at the crime scene. The clouds were pink as the sun began to set. I could faintly see the moon in the coloured sky. As a child, I was always fascinated with the moon and all its different phases. My parents had even bought me a telescope so I could watch it. Looking back now, they seemed a little too eager over my fascination with the moon. What’s more concerning is the pull the moon has on me, especially these past few years. It seems to draw me in with such force that I lose track of time and myself to its allure.

“Kyrie?” Mario called out to me, his voice sounding distant. “Kyrie, are you okay?”

“Huh?” I blinked, focusing on him as he stared down at me, worry evident on his face. It took another blink for me to realize that I had stepped out of my car. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

He studied me a moment before stepping back. My head throbbed lightly, but I ignored it. The feeling will subside.