Chapter Seventy-Four
I pushed my way through the shocked crowd and didn't meet resistance. Then I saw the bodies. The two young men in black robes lay sprawled on the cellar floor. They had been stabbed and their throats cut. Blood was pooled around the bodies. Where were Daniel and Charles? 'Police!'I called out.'Don't touch them. Back away.' The men and women closest to the bodies slinked away. I wondered if they had been about to drink the spilled blood. Wasn't that the ritual? The pattern for the ghoulish murders so far? 'There's only two of them! Two cops!'someone shouted. 'We will shoot you/Jamilla called out in a loud, clear voice. 'Back away. Do it. Where are Daniel and Charles?' I shouted. The crowd began to close in on us, so I fired off a warning shot. It echoed loudly. There was chaos in the cellar. Men and women began struggling to get through the doors. No one would get away though. FBI agents were waiting outside. Jamilla and I pushed our way into a connecting room in the basement. We started down a narrow hallway lit only by candles. Daniel and Charles could have come this way when the lights went out. It seemed likely; they knew the house. There were small rooms crowded next to each other on either side of the dusty tunnel. The layout reminded me of ancient catacombs. Everything was closed in - musty, damp, depressing as hell, scary. 'You okay?' I glanced back at Jamilla. 'I'm fine. So far anyway. This place is starting to grow on me.' She
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VIOLETS ARE BLUE
made a wisecrack, but her eyes were darting about. I could hear Kyle's voice calling to us. The FBI agents were inside now/Anything up there? Alex?You see anything?' 'Not yet. Daniel and Charles took off when the lights went off. No sign of them.' We moved cautiously, checking each of the rooms. Most of the space seemed to be used for storage. A few were completely empty. Dank and eerie, like tombs. Atmospheric, I suppose. Spooky for sure. I kicked open another door. Jamilla and I peered in. She gasped, her mouth open in a silent scream. 'Oh Jesus, Alex! What the hell happened?' I reached out and held onto her arm. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I couldn't make myself believe it. My knees went weak. Daniel and Charles were laid out on the floor of the room. They had been murdered. I was too stunned to speak. Kyle came into the room behind us, said not a word. We moved closer to the bodies, but I knew they were dead. The throats of both men had been cut. And there were deep bites, fang marks. So who was the Sire?
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PART FOUR
HUNT