Chapter 46
Forty-Six
MARIS
Iwait all night and morning but there’s no sign of Julian anywhere. I’m a walking zombie when the sun rises over the sea and breaks through the clouds. The rain has stopped, but the clouds still hang low, promising showers before lunch.
“Where is he?” I whisper and look out the front windows.
The central one Rosanna made her grand entrance through is still open to the elements.
I knocked out the shards of glass still clinging to the frame and put the living room back to rights as best I could, but it’s still marked by last night.
There’s a scorch mark on the floor where the Molotov Cocktail Rosanna threw landed, and the window will need to be replaced entirely, frame and all.
Even if she didn’t come in, she destroyed it.
I wanted to board it up but the things to do it are in the utility shed out back.
Not worth the risk of decapitation to board up the window.
Besides, the monster I want to keep out can’t come in. If a person tried, I’d welcome it as an easy fight, but I don’t think anyone in town is crazy enough to try with the circus outside. It feels like the entire police department is here.
Sheriff Dayton and the others returned from the woods an hour or two after I talked to Eric.
The rest of the officers showed up while they were gone and set up camp.
I watch the forensic team taking photos and blocking off the road.
They took Liz’s body away a few hours ago.
Her head had to be taken in a separate bag.
I almost threw up when I saw them pick it up. Brian took it off completely.
He wanted that to be you. I blink and it’s not Liz that I see lying on the ground.
It’s me. Throat ripped out, eyes sightless, head ripped off.
There’s no doubt in my mind Brian would have done exactly what he did to Liz to me if he had managed to get me out of my house, and like an idiot I almost let him.
I sigh and stare at the front door. I’m standing in the foyer now but I don’t go outside. What the fuck am I supposed to do?
Contrary to legend, sunlight doesn’t kill vampires. I’ve seen Julian walk around plenty without any problem, and then there’s Reggie. I’ve seen that man fucking tan when the weather is good. I’m not safe just because it’s daylight out, but what am I supposed to do?
I can’t stay here doing nothing while Julian is out there.
I pace and wring my hands. I don’t know what to do, but when my phone rings and it’s Josie telling me that the cops are down at the newspaper to take statements because some of Brian’s friends tried to break in, I know I can’t stay here.
He’s out there and Josie and the rest are brave enough to face him.
Sheriff Dayton chased him for five miles according to the deputies that came to get my statement at one am.
“I’m not a fucking little bitch,” I tell myself and grab my bag and phone on my way to the door but I stop right at the door and go back to the kitchen to grab the kitchen knife that I had all night.
If anyone says shit about it being in my bag, I’m going to remind them that Brian ripped a woman’s head off in front of my house.
I might not be as strong as a vampire, but I’m angrier than one. If Brian tries to fuck with me I’m taking him with me.
I leave the house and walk out onto the sidewalk.
When I open my door the activity comes to a halt and everyone on the street looks my way.
There’s a small group of neighbors standing together in front of Mrs. Mulready’s house and they watch me all the way to my car.
It’s only when I’m about to get in that one of them says something.
It’s Scott.
“Why does Brian want to hurt you?”
“He doesn’t want to hurt me. He wants to kill me,” I tell him and get in my car.
The group starts whispering and I pull away from the curb.
It’s an awkward dance to get around the police cars but I manage it.
I drive slowly through town, watching every corner for Brian, or whoever else might be helping him.
In the end no one attacks me and Vesper Point seems as normal as it can be for what happened to Liz last night. When I catch sight of the newspaper office, I don’t bother to pull into the backlot.
“Son of a bitch.” I park right out in front and get out.
The front window has been smashed in and the front door looks pretty banged up.
The glass there is gone. There’s a couple of cops taking photos and talking to Mary and Lyle.
Josie stands behind them with a bat in her hand. What the fuck happened here?
“Hey, what’s going on?” Everyone turns my way and Mary starts to cry.
Josie pats her shoulder awkwardly. “There was a break in, like I told you. It was rough here, but sounds like you had it just as bad.”
“Who was it?” I ask her. I look at the cop. They’re newish. I don’t know their names which means they don’t know who I am either so I hold out my hand. “I’m Maris. I own the Vesper Point Call.”
“Pleased to meet you, Maris. I’m Officer Kent. We’re responding to the break in that took place at four am. Your staff here fought them off. Pretty loyal to you to do that.”
I look over at the group, Greg has come out nursing a cup of coffee. He offers one to Mary who takes it with a sniffle. “They are but what were you all thinking? Why did you stay here?”
“We told you. They came by before looking for our sources and we weren’t going to let them have it.
Whatever Brian is doing he’s got help, and it’s definitely connected to Father Paretti’s death.
We’re not going to be intimidated,” Greg says and looks at Officer Kent with a resolved lift of his head.
“We won’t let Freedom of the Press die in Vesper Point. ”
“Not on our watch,” Josie adds and gives her bat a little twirl.
“You heard what he did to Liz. It's not safe. We’ll figure this out another way. I know you’re excited about the news, but it’s not worth your lives.”
“And if we stop, what then?” Mary asks softly. “Whatever those people Brian has helping him are on it’s bad. They weren’t human. They were climbing the walls outside, Maris. I saw one pick a car up. They’re not right.”
“Pick a car up?” I whisper.
Officer Kent sighs and points to a car a few feet away from us. “That was tossed through the front here. We had it removed an hour ago and moved out of the way. Thought maybe someone drove it in but CCTV tells a different story. She’s right. They picked a car up.”
“Not just one of them, it took like two of them but still. Cars were picked up.”
“How many were there?” I ask.
“Eight,” Lyle answers. “It was mostly the washed up longshoremen that don’t get hired out anymore.
The barflies we see killing themselves down at Moretti’s from open to close.
” Moretti’s is the trashiest bar in town.
It’s also one of the only ones that I know for a fact doesn’t cut anyone off, so it’s a favorite haunt of the town drunks.
“For a bunch of drunks they were moving pretty fast,” Josie mutters.
“They wouldn’t come inside though,” Mary says. “No matter what they did, they just stayed outside.” She looks at Officer Kent. “Why didn’t they come inside?”
Officer Kent rubs the back of his neck and looks uncomfortable so I give him a look. “What is she talking about?”
“She’s talking about them acting like there was a wall up between us. They wouldn’t set foot in here and we all know why. Officer Kent doesn’t want to admit what we already know.”
I look away from Officer Kent because they’re right. He’s not going to say shit. He looks like he wants to be anywhere other than here.
Officer Kent holds up hands. “Now, let’s just calm down and-”
“What? What do you know?”
“It’s vampires,” Josie says and points her bat at the window. “They didn’t come in because they’re vampires.”
“Okay, I know tensions are high but how about we take a beat and collect ourselves, yeah? I’ve got to run to the station to get some paperwork done but I’ll be back by later.”
I nod and wave him off. I’m not paying attention to Officer Kent one bit. Josie’s right. It was fucking vampires.
“All of you, get indoors now. Stay together, do you hear me? I don’t want any of you on your own.” I turn from them and head inside the newspaper office. Of course they all follow me inside.
“What are you going to do?” Josie asks.
“First I’m going to call repairmen to get the window boarded up and a replacement ordered and then I’m going to go down to Moretti’s.”
Josie sounds like she’s choking on her own spit. “Moretti’s? Why? That place is a dump.”
“You said the vampires were barflies. People Brian knew. They’ll be at Moretti’s.”
“You believe us?” Lyle asks. “About the vampires?”
I stop in the middle of the news office and look around.
It looks like a war was waged. There’s glass and debris everywhere.
Even if the vampires didn’t come inside they threw just about everything they could in.
There’s a couple of city trash cans on their sides.
I wrinkle my nose at the smell. I’m going to need to get a crew out here, too.
“I do. I know you wouldn’t lie, and I know you know what you saw, because I saw it too. Brian is one of them. He’s turning them.”
Josie pales. “We thought it was just one vampire but…”
I rub my temples. “It’s a fucking gang.” I turn towards my office but stop and look back at the staff. “I’m never going to understand how you all just immediately jumped to vampires. I thought you were kidding.”
Josie crosses her arms and looks at Mary. The two women exchange looks before Mary speaks, “Vesper Point isn’t a normal town. We’ve lived here all our lives. This isn’t the first time people have died like this. We’ve had this here before.”
My brow furrows. “When?”
“When we were kids. Killed the same way as Father Paretti. Our parents had a manhunt. Twelve children were murdered. It lasted a whole summer and was gone again, but we never forgot. This town isn’t right. It never has been.”
“I never knew,” I tell them. “Why didn’t I hear anything about this growing up?”
In a town as small as Vesper Point, you’d think they’d have a memorial plaque to the lost children and a whole monument to that summer, but if it wasn’t for what the staff is telling me now I’d have never known about it.
Lyle puts an arm around Mary’s shoulders and gives me a sad smile. “That’s because this town hid it. That’s why we can’t let them do it again. The vampires are back, and we have to tell the truth this time. This time we're the adults and we aren’t going to let them cover this up.”
Josie backs up and so does Mary and Greg. “He’s right. We’re not letting the story die. We’re seeing it through this time.”
I swallow hard. The conviction I see on their faces is set. There’s no talking them out of it. If I don't make it out of this, at least they will.
“That’s good. That’s real good.” I back up a step and then turn towards my office. “Go home. All of you. Get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll start writing the story.”