There was a cough and a gurgling sound, and the limp body hit the wooden floor with a thump. The man wiped his mouth with a handkerchief he had pulled from his pocket, tossing the red-stained cloth into a waste paper basket. After that, he observed the scene in front of him. Hunger had gotten the better of his judgment, and now he had nothing to do with the man lying sprawled and bloody on the floor. He wandered about the house for a few minutes, opening drawers and cabinets until he found what he was looking for. He pulled a book of matches from a kitchen drawer, then popped out to the garage and dug around until he located a red plastic can. Returning to the room with the dead man, he dumped the contents of the can onto the body, whistling as he worked. He fiddled with the striker on the match box for a moment, cursing his inability to ever get the blasted things lit and why didn't he just find a lighter? Oh, of course, he couldn't ever get those lit either. Fire was not his friend. Not usually. Today, however...he smiled when the match finally sparked and burned. Quickly, he grabbed a stray piece of paper--a bill or something not that it mattered he wouldn't need it anymore anyway you don't pay bills when you're dead--and lit the corner before letting it drop to the floor. He waited for it to catch the carpet (it was really a nice carpet all pretty paisley designs and frayed edges) before striding to the door. He turned once more just in time to see the flames reach the limp body and suddenly expand with a small roar, encompassing the man, before stepping out, and shutting the door even though he'd broken the handle getting in and it didn't matter because it wouldn't be there soon anyway and wasn't that kind of funny? Not really.

He listened as he walked down the street, the crackling from inside the house slowly growing to a roar. He was starting to catch the scent of burning flesh in among the burning wood and fabric. Good. His work was done, and wasn't that just dandy? Yes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, any idea what's for lunch today?" Kody inquired as he, Kat, and Marten made their way to the cafeteria.

"It's Thursday," Kat said. "That means pasta of some kind."

"I think it's rigatoni today," Marten added.

"Oh, good. I like rigatoni," Kody replied happily.

"You won't when it falls apart every time you stick a fork in it," Kat said bitterly, causing the two boys to grimace.

"Howdy!" someone called, and all three turned around.

"Oh, Raina," Marten said as the redhead trotted up to them. "How are you?"

"Well I'm just peachy!" she exclaimed happily. "How're y'all?"

"Good," Marten said.

"Hungry," Kody added.

"Also hungry," Kat said.

"And irritable," Kody added, poking her shoulder.

"I am not!" she snapped, then frowned. "...Oh."

Kody, Marten and Raina laughed, and they proceeded through the lunch line.

"...This is rigatoni?" Kody asked as a lunch lady slopped some funny looking orange and red mixture, peppered with large flat things that looked like they might be noodles.

"It is if you want it to be," the lunch lady said dryly.

Kody opened his mouth as if to question the edibility of the meal further, but slowly shut it as he decided he’d rather not know the details, and proceeded down the line so she could scoop heaps of maybe-rigatoni onto his friends' plates.

"So where do you sit?" Marten was asking Raina behind him. "I don't think I've ever seen you in this lunch before."

"Over in the corner with some friends," Raina replied. "Well...not really friends...more like classmates, I s'pose. Honestly, I don't even really like 'em that much," she said, looking like she'd just surprised herself.

"There's extra room at our table,"' Kody offered, placing a small cup of pudding on his tray.

"Oh!" Raina said. "Well, um, if you'll have me..."

"Of course," Kody said, smiling back at her. Marten nodded, and Kat shrugged.

"Well, okay then!" Raina said happily. "Thank y'all very much."

After they had proceeded to the table with their sloppy Raresyde lunches and sat down, Marten asked, "Oh, did you guys hear about that fire yesterday?"

"Yeah, I could see the smoke from my house," Kat replied. "The news said some guy died in it."

Kody frowned. "Isn't there a fire department like, right down the road from there? How was he not gotten out in time?"

"That's the funny thing," Marten said. "The fire department got there pretty fast, but the room that the body was in was already destroyed. It must have been the first thing to catch."

"And he didn't move?" Raina inquired, confused.

Marten shrugged. "I guess he couldn't? Maybe he was sleeping."

"Smoke detectors woulda woken him up," Kody argued.

"Maybe he didn't have any," Raina offered.

"No, the news report said they were still going off when the fire department got there," Kat replied.

"What was this guy, an idiot?" Kody asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Apparently," Marten said. "That, or already knocked out."

"Or already dead," Raina mumbled, causing the entire group to look at her, confused. She frowned thoughtfully. "I dunno, somethin' don’t sound right about this."

"You think someone was trying to cover up a murder?" Kat asked curiously.

Raina nodded. "It's not impossible."

Everyone remained silent for a moment, uncomfortably considering that.

"...I...guess it's not..." Kat said slowly.

"It's definitely not." Everyone turned to Kody, who was staring at his lunch tray, poking at the food. "After all, it's not like it's never happened before."

"...What do you mean?" Kat asked slowly.

Kody didn't respond right away, then suddenly looked up at them, smile returning. "Nothing," he laughed. "I was just thinking of some movie or whatever, I'm sure. Can we talk about something else? This is depressing."

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess so," Marten said. "So what's up with the Raresyde Rams? I heard they almost won a game the other day."

"Aw, don't talk about them, that's even more depressing!"

~~~~~~~~~~

That evening, Kody made a point of taking a walk. A long one. He needed two things: some time to think, and to check something out. He took the highway away from his apartment, into the core of East Ariesville. He swung a left at the traffic light, heading down past one of Raresyde's elementary schools. Finally, he arrived at a smoldering pile of ash that had been a house the day before. Carefully, quietly, he wandered around it, observing the pile of rubble carefully. Most of what filled his nose was smoky wood, but now and then, he caught whiffs of other things. Charred flesh and clothing, boiled blood that he was somehow sure had been spilled before the fire. And something else. Someone else. It was very faint, but he knew that scent. It was similar to his own, only much more poignant. More powerful.

There had been a vampire here. A real one.

He bit his lip, suddenly hoping he was wrong. Because if he was right, Ariesville was in trouble.