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CHAPTER 1 | A NEW BODY
ALEXEI’S POV
“Hello, brother. Do you want to die now?” Anastasia asked with a sick smile on her face, blood dripping down the corners of her mouth and a cursed dagger in her hand.
She walked towards me, looking like she could plunge it into my heart at any time, and her dark orbs looked nothing like my little sister.
“Ana, wait!” I screamed, but she couldn’t hear me through the bloodlust that had taken her mind. Sauntering ever closer to me, I scrambled backfurther in fear. When I felt the cold stone of the wall on my back, I knew I was out of time. She slowly sank the knife into my heart, making me scream out in pain.
The haunting rhythm of death echoed through Harmony Grove. Its sinister beat served as a reminder that even as a supernatural, everything could be taken from you in a blink.
I walked down the corridor, still clutching the cup of coffee I had gotten that morning when I had no idea how my day would turn out. This was a brand-new week, exactly one week after I had promised the entire vampire council that I had the situation under wraps.
My head still banged from lack of sleep, and the coffee that was supposed to get me through the day was now cold because another vampire had just ended up dead. As the tenth person since the killings started, my nightmares were getting worse. In this cycle of sleeplessness and death, my whole life felt like it was falling apart.
There had been eight dead bodies in the last week alone, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before we all got wiped out if we didn’t put an end to it. The last three weeks had been filled by witnessing people I regarded as my brothers get murdered and paying my respects to their families, the same lines of consolation falling from my lips and breaking my heart anew every time.
They hadn’t deserved to be killed while going about their night. Worse still, we had no idea what was killing them yet. Vampires are rarely weak animals, and the autopsy on the other bodies detected that they hadn’t been drugged or attacked in their weak form. Though all the legends about holy water, garlic, and crosses were a myth, it wastrue that sunlight severely weakened vampires. Whoever was killing people here was doing a good job of clearing up their traces.
The fact that there was someone out there killing vampires while they were still lucid scared the crap outta me. We weren’t safe; none of us were safe at all. Harmony Grove was no longer what it used to be—a safe haven for supernaturals.
I made another turn into the open court of what used to be the town’s official basketball court. Some kids were hunched not too far away from the scene, and I took it that they were the ones who had discovered the body.
The Sheriff, the coroner, and the other officers were already there, waiting for my arrival. I tossed my coffee into the nearest trashcan; there was no need to hold on to it anymore. I wouldn’t be able to get it down my throat anyway.
“Another one, Mayor,” the Sheriff greeted me, and I nodded. I studied the lifeless form on the cold slab, and the sight broke my heart. I knew him so well. He was one of those youngsters with the drive and imagination to make his dreams a reality, but now all of his dreams are gone.
“His name is Mason. I used to see him around the corner,” I replied before taking another look at his neck. The two puncture wounds stood out to me, just in the same position as the last three bodies we found. His body turning gray looking like his skin was receding confirmed that he was indeed another vampire.
Harmony Grove used to be safe, or at least that was what I thought. All other supernatural beings cohabited in peace, blending beautifully with humans while keeping our centuries-old secrets carefully concealed. These men ending up dead could only mean one thing: we are being hunted by another supernatural, and it could end badly if we don’t find out what it is soon.
“This looks like a vampire bite,” one of the police officers declared. He was human, and every vampire present knew that the distance between those puncture wounds was far too wide to be made by fangs, and they didn’t have any nail scratches on their bodies.
“Yeah, we would title the book ‘Vampire in Harmony Grove,’” another officer retorted, and the first officer obviously didn’t like it.
“Enough, both of you!” The Sheriff called out gruffly, ending what could have been another bout of bickering.
“Let’s keep this quiet, fellas,” I suggested, my voice low and authoritative. “We don’t want the town buzzing with rumours. I’m going to speak to those boys.”
I walked towards them. All four of them looked terrified, and I don’t blame them. None of them imagined they would find a dead body on their court this morning.
I removed my phone from my pocket to see if Ana had replied to any of the hundreds of messages I sent over the weekend. Seeing nothing, I returned it to my pocket with a slight shake of my head. She shouldn’t be ignoring me over whatever she thinks I have done this time.
“Good morning, boys,” I called as soon as I got to them, and they all turned to look at me. They replied to my greeting, and I nodded at them. The conversations they were having died immediately, and I flashed them a smile, hoping it would reassure them a little. I asked each of them for a recounting of everything they had seen and heard on their way to the court and once they found the body.
“I am so sorry that you boys had to see what you did this morning. I know that was hard, and I really appreciate you boys staying here and telling me what you saw. We are still investigating who that man is and why he was here. There will be counsellors available to you if any of you need to talk about what happened today, but you willhave to keep specific details between you and I, at least until our investigation is over. If any of this gets out, it could jeopardize our investigation, meaning if there’s a killer, he could get away. Can you boys keep a secret for now?” I looked at each of their faces and saw they understood what I needed from them. They nodded in agreement.
With that done, I want to get back and dig into whatever was killing my people. Being the leader of the clan meant everyone depended on me to magically resolve the whole situation. I’ve always been an advocate for peaceful cohabitation between our people and other supernaturals. The Vampire Council didn’t like it, but they weren’t seeing the vision of a peaceful world like I was.
I dialed Ana’s cell again, and for the umpteenth time, it went straight to voicemail. I sighed. She knew how much I hated being ignored and how worried I could get if I didn’t hear from her, and she still did it to me.
“You’ve reached Anastasia the first, and I am not available. Or maybe I am, but you should still leave me a message after the beep. I might listen to it. If we aren’t cool, you better end the call right now because I’m not calling you back.”
The coroner took the body away from the scene, meaning the autopsy will begin soon. A wave of nausea racked me, knowing I was going to get the same result sheet I’d received from the other three victims. The coroner had zero ideas about what sucked the life out of them, they were lucid enough to fight back at the time of the attack, and yet none of them had the defensive wounds they’d have sustained if they had.
“Callum, we will be opening a new internal investigation into the vampire’s death. I don’t think this is random. There are over tenthousand people in Harmony Grove, and the vampires aren’t even half of the population. Why are we the sole victims of whoever is doing these killings?”
“The puncture wounds aren’t made with fangs, and I can’t shake the feeling that we are being taunted by whoever it is,” I whispered to the Sheriff so the human officers wouldn’t hear me, and he nodded in agreement.
