ALEXIS' POV
The whole school was swallowed by viceferousity, clamouring students hung around in numbers talking about an incident I had no idea of. This noise was louder than usual, something instigated this and I still didn't know as I waddled through the crowd.
What could be happening?
It wasn't till after some moment passed I overheard a couple of them talking about the lifeless body of a mundane girl that was found by another student this morning. My first instinct was to check what it was, which I did.
The scene was barricaded by police officers and their endless efforts to stop the eager students from trespassing and making videos. It was still ridiculous how technology made them, their first instinct always was to make a recording of whatever they saw; they remained the dumbest species except when they intended to harm another.
At a distance lay the body of a girl, the victim of the unfortunate incident, drained of every iota of life. The familiarity of the scene rose lots of questions inside of me. It looked like the attack of a wild animal, that was the conclusion a forensic scientist had announced to a police officer — which only I overhead, another perk of being a vampire. Her body was violently clawed and there were several marks of her being bitten, this bite wasn't one — it looked as though the perpetrator angrily fed on this poor soul. I leaned even closer to hear more information from the police officers.
A particular one caught my attention, a middle-aged man running his hands through his ruffled hair as he paraded the scene with clenched fists as he spoke angrily to the forensic scientist that carefully examined the scene, placing clips on whatever gave a clue as to what went down here.
"It's the same MO as the one from last month," The short forensic guy said as he adjusts his glasses before stepping over the "do not touch" tape used to barricade the scene. "The time of death should be about ten hours ago," he added
"I can already see, I was waiting for the statistics to come in. Something was in killing people in these woods and it's not stopping," He bit back angrily.
"Whatever animal this was, it had to be small, yet strong enough to harm its preys this way, it doesn't seem to have a lot of furs. If it did, some of it would have fallen off during the struggle," He lifted her cold, lifeless arms and examined her fingernails.
"Ah, they seem to be some patches of skin? Though it does look like much. She scratched whatever attacked her while struggling, I'd examine all I get and give you the results."
"Thanks, Joe. Now I have to explain to her grieving parents how we let their daughter die under our watch, see you back at the precinct," He departed the scene.
He looked hurt, probably one of those who would lay their lives on the line for their jobs, impressive.
"Good luck, Detective Horton," Joe bade as he continued his work.
All the thoughts that clouded my head could only sum up to a conclusion, Matthias. It had to be him. It couldn't be Selene, the only one more reckless than she was Matthias.
Just as I thought of him, the devil himself appeared out of the thin air, behind a tree a few feet away from the scene. I exhaled, feeling the anger course through me.
I pulled him to a secluded place, where I finally let go with a push that caused him to hit his back against the wall, hard. That was all he needed to know how intense my anger was.
He wore a coy expression, followed by a burst of hollow laughter — none of which suggested remorse for what he did. Based on pure instinct, I threw a punch across his face, and his smiling face dropped. He glared at me before attempting to hit back, unsuccessfully.
Again, plain, predictable Matthias. I wouldn't need much of my power to weaken him.
His claws were visible now, same as his fangs as he snarled at me, taking careful circular steps before attempting to attack again. He could be one of us now, but he was once human; his strength could never faze me, I was a Trueblood after all.
He was pinned against the wall with my elbow in his neck, my other arm pressed against his. His wriggling and growling couldn't break him free.
"Why did you do that?" I questioned with gritted teeth.
"Because...I wanted to." His hysterical laughter grew louder by the second, heat welled in my stomach. Boy, does he annoy me?
I pressed my elbow harder as he gasped for air, not that he needed it anyways, death was something we weren't capable of.
"I loved how she begged me to spare her miserable life, how she screamed while I dipped my fangs into her neck," He said again nonchalantly.
Then it dawned on me, that the victim had no bite on her neck, she was bitten almost everywhere else but her neck was free of bite marks. Matthias didn't do this, he just wanted credit for it. Someone...no, something else did this. What could it be?
I let him go, stepping away while he rubbed his neck as though it made it hurt less.
Even after all these years, he still remained primitive.
"You didn't do this, Matthias."
His smile faded immediately and was replaced by fear. Here comes the submission.
"No, I didn't, someone else is here."
There, I said it
"Do you know who it is?"
"No, I do not but this isn't the first."
~~
It's been three days after the incident at school, and the knowledge of one of us present in Brownston didn't sit well with me. Who could it be?
Most importantly, what does this person want? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
Father called on me for a discussion he tagged as important, I was surprised when I got his phone call; father never touched a cellphone unless it was urgent.
What was it he wanted to discuss that made him call on me? He could have come, it's not like the distance was a hindrance. We could be wherever we wanted in a blink of an eye.
A few hours had passed since I arrived and he was still out of sight, probably in the woods somewhere waiting for his prey to walk into his trap. Till I heard his heels clank on the wooden floor, here he comes.
"Son, I'm surprised you made it." He said from the other end of the room as he walked in adjusting his breast pocket before tugging the edge of his suit.
If perfectionism was a person, then it was father.
No, he wasn't surprised I made it, he was surprised I heeded his call, even I was.
"I suppose we proceed with the discussion then," I didn't want to spend any more time than I had to.
He scoffed at my remark before going on with the discussion. "Have you perhaps noticed any strange occurrence in Brownston or its surroundings?" He questioned.
Could this be related to what happened three days ago?
"Is there something I should beware of?" I asked disregarding his question. He should make this easier on both of us and tell me whatever was happening.
"Lucien sent an owl," he paused before settling into one of the numerous plush seats. "One of the castoffs broke free from the scimitar, the council is still figuring out which it is,"
This was huge and terrifying. Castoffs were rogue vampires who had been banned from the community for unforgivable sinful acts. Most of them were captured and pinned — a process of driving marked scimitars into their chests to weaken them for as long as possible since death was impossible.
"Why Brownston?" I inquired again.
"Because that was where its anomaly was last sensed. It also can shift souls."
The castoff could wear anyone's face then, slipping in and out of our grips behind a mask. This new development didn't make things better.
That was where I realised where this was going, why he called in the first place. For some reason, a knot formed inside my chest, followed by a punching pain that lingered, he had the same suspicion I just developed.
"It couldn't be her right?" The hopeless question slipped my tongue.
It couldn't be, right? If it was, mundanes were about to go on an unending streak of miserable deaths.
"I sure hope not, son. I hope not."