Episode 2: A Bite, a Death, and New Friends: Part 5

Turns out Oliver is a bit difficult to handle even for a vampire hunter like Quill.

Quill had seen bodies of victims at the hands of vampires before, but this wasn't a vampire. Whoever had killed this man, a homeless man from the looks of it, wasn't some monster of the night. The homeless would sometimes stumble upon campus, looking for a place to stay or help. Quill had to get them off the grounds. It wasn't the best part of his job, but it was necessary. Most of the homeless in this city were on drugs, and a few had gotten mean with the students.

He didn't like having to send them off into the cold, but his duty was to make sure the students were safe. He wouldn't admit it out loud to anyone, but a part of him was glad it was a dead homeless man and not a kid.

He frowned at the body, or what was left of the body. Someone had removed most of the bones from this guy. They removed his head and started to work on gathering the bones. Their department had received reports from Wheldrake Police about several bodies of homeless people ending up in this matter.

A serial killer was the word floating around now.

Someone at the news outlets had called this man the Bone Eater, but no one knew anything about the killer. They weren't sure it was the same person doing all the killings. There had been no clues left at the crime scene, no one saw a thing, and the only thing the cops knew at the moment was that the killer knew how to use a knife.

It led them to think of a butcher or a med-student, but that was too close to Jack the Reaper talk for Quill's taste. He sighed, hoping this man dead on the ground wasn't the man he sent packing last Thursday. The guy hung around the school but didn't go onto the grounds anymore. Quill had given him a dollar here and there, even brought him a meal or two.

"Do we call the cops?" Oliver asked from the other side of a tree. She wouldn't look at the body anymore.

Quill stood back up, walking over to her. "Yeah, I'll call it in."

"And what about Mister I have fangs?" Oliver asked. "Are we going after him?"

Quill stared out into the dark woods, knowing he shouldn't leave the body, but if the vampire were hurt, like Oliver had said, he would want to feed and feed fast. It would be the quickest way to heal his wounds. Quill still didn't quite understand how Oliver, a tiny girl who liked colorful, well, everything, hurt a monster of the Night.

He glanced back at the body and then over to Oliver. "If I call this in, can you wait for the other officers?"

"Uh, no," Oliver said. "I'm not staying here."

"I need you too."

"Nope," Oliver shook her head like a small child. "I'm going with you. The last time I was alone, I almost died."

Quill sighed. "I got to go find the other perp," he said. "He could hurt someone."

"Then let's go get him," Oliver smiled widely. "I hurt him once before."

"I'm ordering you to stay here," Quill growled at her. Oliver crossed her arms, tapping her foot. "I have the power to do so. You have to follow my orders."

"I'm sure you must like your job," she said.

"I won't have it if you die," Quill said.

"And if I die here alone," Oliver said. "What if he �" "she nodded at the body �"" comes back."

Quill sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Why did you do this to me? I have been good. I have been doing my job, and why? What did I do wrong? He couldn't keep playing this game for much longer. He had to get out there looking for the vampire. He glanced back at the body, meaning he would have to wait to call it in.

It wasn't going anywhere, he hoped. He turned back to Oliver, who was still tapping her foot but smiling big at him this time. Something didn't seem right about her outside of the fact that she was odd, but there seemed to be something else around her. Quill knew the Halo on his arm could feel things in the world, pulling him along to something evil in the dark, but he could never figure out how it was doing such a thing.

Then again, he noted to himself, not all evil was things of nightmares. If the man who removed this man's bones was a serial killer, then his master had been right all those years ago.

"Quill, we fight ghouls and demons," he said, sitting in the car with Quill. Quill didn't know it yet, but his sister, his baby sister, had been killed by her boyfriend. He had gotten drunk and found out Madison had cheated on him. He lost it, killing her and then getting himself killed. "It is our duty, but the real monsters of this world are just everyday people, and their evil knows no depth, son."

It had been the hardest year of his life. At eighteen, people spoke of you becoming an adult, but even then, no adult was ready to face the death of a loved one. Werewolves and vampires had nothing on the loss of his beloved sister.

He looked down at Oliver, seeing a bit of Madison in her. The strong will to fight. Madison didn't care how the world saw her; it seemed neither did Oliver. All she cared about was following her path.

"If you die," Quill said, shaking his head, "I'll never forgive myself."

"Then don't let me," Oliver said. "Now, let's get going; he is starting to smell."

"You do everything I tell you," Quill growled, pointing at her. "You understand me?"He could feel the power hidden somewhere in her tiny body. Maybe she did hurt the vampire. There is something else to her. I'd best keep an eye on her after tonight.