IV: Sowing Leads
The precinct hummed with activity, officers handing paperwork off to other officers; some returning from patrols while others left for their own assignments. Various civilians talked to those riding desks as Anderson typed away at his computer, filling out reports. It was times like these that he was thankful his desk was in a far-off area of the main precinct floor. Because of the isolation, he was largely left alone when he was there. All of the activity, like usual, sounded like unintelligible background noise, no different to him than that of a coffee shop. Typically, the few times he was at the precinct, he found the din somewhat relaxing: it made him feel as if he was invisible, while still being a part of something. Today, however, was different. Mentally he couldn't get lost in the clamor, and because he couldn't get lost in it, he felt like he more a part of it. This change was due in large part to the pleasant conversation the captain had had with him just a few hours earlier.
Captain Michaels's voice still echoed around inside his head, giving him a slight headache. Anderson had been placed on this case because he had a tendency to get results, results that led him to close cases fast. With the political implications involved in this case, both the captain and Governor General Burch wanted it resolved as quickly as possible, with the assailant captured or dead. If it was made public knowledge to the world that there appeared to be a vampire loose in Nova Flats murdering humans, the consequences would be severe. If it were true, Nova Flats would lose its autonomy, returning it to the control of the United Human Republic. The tension between the UHR and the Vampiric Dominion were tense, to say the least.
Nova Flats had been built on a large plateau surrounded by canyons. Rivers of varying widths lined the bottom of nearly all of the canyons and the plateau itself was only a few hundred feet above sea level. What made Nova Flat's location overall stressful to a great number of individuals was how close it was to the Vampiric Dominion.
When it was first settled nearly three hundred years earlier, the Vampires were not too happy that humans who weren't their religious servants were forming a large town so close to their borders. Over time, they became convinced that the creation of the town was nothing more than a UHR ploy to spy on the Vampiric Dominion. After many tense years, an altercation took place that set off the powder keg and triggered a twenty-year conflict that became known as the Blood War. It took the intervention of the Immortals, who had always been neutral, to cause the war to come to an end. It is still unknown why they got involved in the first place, though conspiracy theories were never in short demand. Choice theories including the Immortals curing their boredom in Alba Mons by involving themselves in the affairs of mortals, and a lone Immortal attacking both sides during one of the battles. There was even one school of thought that said both sides had been imprisoning newly created Immortals instead of handing them over to Alba Mons. None of the conspiracies had ever been validated and much of the Immortals’ involvement was stricken from the history books.
"You going to answer that or you just going to let it tire itself out?" asked Jim, another detective and one of a few other officers who actively interacted with Anderson. His attention now snapped back to away from his reports, the ring of his desk phone now coming to focus.
"Oh, thanks Jim. Got lost in thought again, I guess," Anderson mumbled as he picked up the receiver. "Anderson, how can I help you?... Uh-huh…. Give me the bad news first." Anderson let out a disappointed sigh loud enough that even Jim, who sat more than ten feet away, could hear it. "Shit, she's brain dead? That's unfortunate. What's the good news?...." Anderson asked as he leaned forward onto his desk, his elbows resting on some files that littered his desk. "That's great! At least one of those strung out kids we bagged was good for something. Let me know if you find anything more on the van. I have to call up the newspapers. Talk to you later Gauer." Anderson hung up the phone.
"What happened?" Jim asked as he was writing on some documents.
"That girl that was drained and sent off to the hospital ended up brain dead. They just barely had enough compatible blood to give her, but the damage was already done. The only shitty bright side is that one of those punks the uni's dragged in sobered up told Gauer that he thinks he saw what looked like One Eye feeding on the now brain-dead girl," pausing to drink from his lukewarm coffee. "The interesting bit is that the kid also said he wouldn't have noticed anything if, to quote what he told Gauer, ‘that other chick hadn't been snapping pictures at the weirdo.'"
"Did he say what happened after that?" Jim asked, only now taking his eyes away from his paperwork, letting his pen casually dangle in his left hand.
"Yeah, apparently One-Eye didn't take too kindly to the impromptu photo shoot in some dark corner of a rave while he was having a late night snack. The kid said that he dropped the girl and went after the other girl. He lost sight of them both after that, told Gauer he thought he was just seeing things because of the drugs and just continued to party."
"This other girl, the one that took the picture, you think she's that other vic then? The one that went through the window?" Jim asked as he now began tapping on his desk with the pen in his hand.
"Most likely. I don't think the CSIs recovered any cellphones or cameras at the scene," Anderson spoke out loud as he typed a couple of commands on his computer. "Nope, no cameras or phones recovered. So it's either still on the girl, or she dropped in the chase and someone else made off with it."
"If it's a cell phone, I really hope its locked up, wherever it is. The last thing we need is a picture of a vampire feeding on a human floating around, causing a panic. Weren't you going to call the press?" Jim asked his focus now back to his papers.
"Yeah, I was. Thanks for reminding me," Anderson said as he started dialing. "Hi, this is Detective Anderson with NFPD, I need to talk to Morrison. Okay, thank you." Anderson leaned back on his chair as we waited for Morrison, the editor in chief of Nova Flats Herald, the most popular newspaper for all of Nova Flats. "Hey Tony, yeah it's Anderson. Just like before, if you get any of your reporters coming across any tips about a brain-dead girl in a hospital, or some wild stories from kids partying too hard, my captain needs you to sit on them…. Yeah, others are being asked the same, I just wanted to ask you personally since we've known each other for so long, how's the family?.... That's good. Oh! If you hear anything unusual, let me know…. Okay, I'll let you get back to work Tony. Tell Susan and the kids I said hi," Anderson said as he hung up the call, looking towards Jim, "Hey Jim, want to go get something to eat?"
"Sure, I could do with some food," said Jim, putting his pen down as he stood from his desk. "We'll take your car though."
Both men grabbed their coats and made their way out of the precinct. As Anderson followed behind Jim, he walked by uniformed officer talking to an older woman only barely listening to their conversation. "Ma'am, how long has your daughter been missing for?" the officer asked. "She never came home last night. She didn't call to let me know she was going to be out late. It’s so unlike her," said the woman. "She was telling me she was following some crazy rumors about some people dying. She's a reporter."
“Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do right now ma'am. We have to wait a full twenty-four hours before we can file a missing person's report. Why don't you leave me your contact information, a brief description of your daughter, and her name? If anyone turns up today, I'll give you a call. If she's not back home or you don't hear from her by tomorrow, come see me again. I'm sure she'll turn up real soon and she'll be right as rain," said the officer in a calming voice, trying his best to reassure her.