“I found the Blood Court officer who cast the curse on Lana Lionheart’s grave.” Aven Grimm greeted him with the slightest bit of good news, however judging by the way the vamp shifted on his feet and looked anywhere but at Percy, he knew a catch was coming.  “But-”

“Let me guess.” Percy held up a hand.  “Officer’s dead, right?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Found in the Niveous Ocean over a month ago.  Ruled a tragic boating accident.” Aven handed him the file.  “I dug into it more.  Nobody knows why the officer was anywhere out near that ocean so early in the morning. Apparently, he didn’t even fly.  Took a personal boat out into the waters, but with the morning curfew, there weren’t any witnesses who spotted him.”

“No patrol bats noticed a boat out in the middle of the morning?” Percy asked in disbelief.  “Come on now.  You’re pulling my fangs.  How’s that possible?”

“I’m not sure.” Aven shook his head.  “I found it very peculiar as well.  It’s been so long now, that I doubt anyone would’ve kept the records of which vampires patrolled the waters that morning.  Perhaps he went out during a break period?”

Percy rubbed his chin.  “Check into that for me, would you? See when the morning patrol bats take their breaks.  I know they don’t keep many out during the daylight hours, but there should have at least been someone out there keeping watch.  I only hope they won’t end up the same way as that Blood Court officer.”

“I’ll get on it.” Aven nodded. “Things go well with that doctor of yours?”

Warmth traveled up to Percy’s ears as he thought of Leo. “Yeah, all good. I should be able to shift again soon.” 

Vampires never admitted their weaknesses. No matter how much he trusted Aven and the rest of his colleagues.  It was something ingrained into him that fatal day he turned, to never let anyone, not even other vampires, see him at his weakest moments.

“That’s good to hear.” Aven shifted on his feet. 

“Sure is.” Percy’s ears flexed inward at the sound of the stationhouse door bursting open. 

“We’ve got another body.” Captain Delacroix's stentorian voice carried across the room, and Percy cringed to think about how he’d almost been that next unlucky victim.  

Their killer must’ve found another poor vamp after failing to kill his own sorry fangs.

“Another vampire in their coffin?” Percy asked.

“Actually, no. Wolf walker this time,” Captain Delacroix replied.  “Found the poor guy partially buried in his own backyard.  Same MO with the white rose and blood. By the way they reported him being halfway buried, it makes me wonder if someone interrupted our perp.”

“Strange.” Percy rubbed his chin.  “Here we assumed only vampires were the targets. But it looks like they’ve got beef with the wolves too.”  

“Should we make a public announcement about this soon, sir?” Aven asked, turning to face their captain. “To ensure our citizens can take proper measures to protect themselves.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they started coming after government officials next.”

“We don’t want to create widespread panic either,” Percy pointed out.  “We’ll have vampires and wolf walkers accusing every witch they see of being the killer.  I also don’t think it’s a good idea to give this creep any limelight, especially not right now.”

“Why’s that?” Captain Delacroix asked him.

“That’s probably what they want.  Attention. Stir up paranoia and panic. Not to mention, it could bring a rise in vampire hunters around here,” Percy grumbled that last bit, unable to shake the memory of encountering Leo’s own vampire hunter sister earlier in his clinic. She was ready to rip his fangs out with no mercy.

“You make a good point there, Ashmidia.” 

“We can’t keep everyone in the dark forever. I know that too.” Percy folded his arms across his chest with a side glance at Aven.  “But until we can narrow our suspects down, I don’t want vampires going on witchhunts.  News of these murders is already out there, but we’ve managed to keep the rose evidence confident so far.  Let’s hope it stays that way.”

Little did Percy know, the truth would be coming out into the moonlight long before any of them wanted it to.

                                                                                       🦇

The inability to fly as a bat really got under Percy’s skin. Not wishing to be an outlier amongst his bat colleagues, he took to the darkened sky on his broom far away from them. 

It wasn’t like he had much else of a choice unless he wanted to try sprinting to the crime scene. If he thought the broom flying jokes were bad, he’d never hear of the end of marathoning to a murder scene. 

A rush of crisp spring air nipped at his face as he soared over the towering slate gray buildings of Sanguine City, fingers tightening instinctively around his broom handle as he swooped downward when nearing the residence in question.  He couldn’t deny the thrill in his slow beating heart as he descended, how he used to crave such a sensation as a mortal witch.  

Strange how those old feelings resurfaced so suddenly.  Like being on the brink of death reminded him of his vulnerable, human days.  As he landed, he took a moment to consider what he might’ve done had he never turned into a vampire.  Of course, he’d be long gone and buried by now had not, but it was something so trivial that crept into his mind, like it even mattered now. 

“Over here.” Aven stood outside the resident’s mailbox, waving Percy over because he’d landed at the house next door. Intentionally, of course. To stay out of the bats path.

“Coming.” Percy dispelled his broom away with a shiver that rolled through him.

With an effort, he shook that lingering magic away with a few flex of his fingers.  It took much longer to fade, enough for him to find it strange but not enough to dwell on it because he had more pressing matters at hand.

The little strawberry hut was engirdled by a wrought iron black fence, one that no longer pulsed with strong ward magic like it should’ve.  Even when one passes, the magic doesn’t fade instantaneously in death.  That meant the owner either intentionally let their magic down or someone managed to dispel the wards themselves.  Seeing how their perpetrator had sneaked inside vampire homes to slay them in their coffins, Percy was seriously considering the possibility of someone possessing the skills to dismantle magic wards.

Beneath his feet, he swore the earth shook ever so slightly.  Not equivalent to an earthquake but more like a mere burp from a wild dragon that disturbed the ground under them.  It was enough to make him halt in his tracks.  The wind whipped the leaves off an old oak tree and some bramble bushes rustled like they wanted to warn him of something.

Percy had always had a strong connection to nature despite his disconnect with his allergy to soil, but never anything so peculiar like this.  Like everything around him wanted his attention, like the trees and literal grasses beneath him were begging to tell him something.  

“Hey, are you all right?” Aven asked.  

Over the blusting winds, it was hard to even hear his own colleague’s voice, but he found himself rooted to the ground where he’d froze.  His hands tingled, much similarly to how they would if he accidentally touched soil, but when he lifted them to inspect them, no blisters had erupted.  No sign of his allergy flaring up.  Yet, that sensation remained, accompanied by another much weirder one. As if he was being watched.  

If only the plants around him could truly communicate with him.  It was such a strange thought that crossed his mind, how he knew it had witnessed unspeakable things outside the home.  How it knew exactly who their killer was.  

A burst of magic-infused water splashed in Percy’s face, and he blinked as Aven stood over him with a concerned frown.  “What’s wrong?”

Percy magicked away the icy water clinging to his face with a scowl.  “Seriously?”

“You wouldn’t answer me and you were all spaced out.” Aven tilted his head with a concerned frown.  “Like a world away.”

 “Just got lost in a moment.  Don’t worry.  I’m good now.  Come on.  Let’s get inside, then head to the backyard to check with forensics.”

“You know, you can always talk to me if you need to,” Aven said.  “It’s just…  You looked so lost there, almost fearful even.  It worried me.”

Opening up about feelings and sharing those kinds of sentimental emotions wasn’t really Percy’s strong suit.  Even as a mortal, he stayed pretty closed off and to himself, so he couldn’t help the mental wards he built up around himself even now.  When even his colleague truly worried for his well-being.

“I appreciate that, but I’m fine,” Percy dismissed him.  “We have a case at hand to deal with right now.”

Aven merely nodded, resembling a pitiful stray puppy being tossed out into a storm.  “Of course.  

It wasn’t like he could understand.  Hells, even Percy couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened to him back there.  

To his relief, that weird sensation of being watched faded, as did the overwhelming presence of the plants trying to whisper things to him.  Unfortunately, after their walk-through of the house, they made their way into the backyard where the victim’s neighbor had found the owner’s body, and that eerie feeling returned.  Not as strongly as when he stepped onto the property, thankfully.

“What have we got here?” Percy asked, announcing his presence to the forensics gathered around a sizable hole in the middle of the yard.  Upon closer inspection, he spotted the male wolf walker curled up like he was merely sleeping.  A blood-speckled rose resting near his head.  

“Victim’s Avery Wolfsbane.  Works as a midnight nurse in Sanguine City, but failed to appear for work last night according to his co-workers.  Apparently, that was odd enough because he never missed work but they figured he must’ve had something important come up or fell ill.” Forensic Persephone Bloodworth shook her head, her long blond hair pinned up in a messy bun by a golden butterfly clip.  “Tragic, honestly.  He’s so young.  Still had so much life ahead of him.”

“You visited the hospital where he works?” Percy asked.  

Persephone nodded.  “I personally know one of the nurses very well.  Got the information from her and their other co-workers.  Apparently, Avery had been visiting bars after his shift in hopes of meeting someone.  Many of his co-workers thought he was trying to find a date.  Turns out he was actually trying to find information about his birth mother.”

“That’s interesting.” Percy frowned.  “Did he ever find out?  Do you know?”

“Well, that’s the part I think you’ll find most interesting, Detective Ashmidia.” Persephone’s deep crimson eyes pierced through him.  “Lana Lionheart.  I heard that she came up during your investigation already, correct?”

“Yeah, she has.” Percy raked a hand through his dark hair. The grasses beneath him rustled at his feet, like they wanted to pile on more shocking revelations and twists that only made everything make less sense.

This case was far more complicated than he ever imagined.