Chapter 2: C2: A Gift
Once or twice every week, a man, child, or woman disappears in the country.
Often they are found later in the same month as disfigured bodies believed to be obliterated by psychopaths. But the truth is always hidden.
Vampires need pure blood to survive at least once a week.
The news doesn't tell you the actual truth about all those bodies.
"Vampires don't exist, Jane. People are blaming these psychopathic murders on the Supernatural? Why? I sure as hell haven't seen anybody disappear into dust at midday." Laughs the journalists.
Meanwhile, a rare few journalists who are referred to as schizos try hard to reveal what their eyes see. Well, a schizo's eyes ain't worth jack-shit.
….
Los Angels, Merrica.
"Oh God, for a fifty-eight-year-old woman, how are you so good at fucking?"
"How are you so gorgeous, oh lord!"
"Mother of God!"
The words echoed at midnight in the small motel room of Vanessa Carter. She had taken another muscular man home on New Year's Eve to begin the year with a stuffed gut.
Now, it was 5 hours past midnight. Daylight would arrive soon, and she would be weakened again. Still, she hasn't had a moment's sleep even after the session she had on the bed.
Vanessa stood on the balcony of the motel, gazing down at the city of Los Angels.
Crazy teenagers were still awake. Screams filled the streets. The smell of burning cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol filled the air more than ever. Bikes roared. Cars roared. Even a truck was speeding down the street at some distance.
Los Angels, the city of Lost Angels.
It lived up to his name. The people in the city never had a day without getting sky-high.
However, the tall pretty lady with the perfect body standing alone on the balcony with a baggy shirt didn't seem to be enjoying the city as much as the other inhabitants.
She had a strange loneliness in her eyes.
Her silver hair wavered as she gazed into the night streets. Smoke escaped her lips as she breathed out. Even weed couldn't make her high because of the high tolerance of vampires.
But it gave her a tingle at least.
Brr!!!
Suddenly, a car roared across the alley beneath her. Her eyes fluttered and shifted in the direction of the car. A young lady with dark hair was screaming joyously as her boyfriend was at the wheel of the BMW Roadster.
It sped down the alley like a bullet, drifting right at the next turn.
A chuckle escaped Vanessa's lips as she saw the young couple. It was a happy thought for a second, seeing that summer of love in those teenage souls.
But a second later, she felt despair.
The thought of Drac came back to her. The memory of her husband was etched into her mind and the strange hollow feeling in her heart returned.
"Shit…" she muttered, gripping the railing of the balcony tight. She could feel the metal bend in her grasp.
In her chest, a constant turmoil of anger and sadness roared. But she refused to break the railing straight off the balcony. That would simply draw every person's eye in the alley toward her.
She stepped away from the railing with her eyes watering.
"I miss you," she muttered to herself, sinking to her feet.
That emptiness couldn't be filled.
After all, as the wife of Dracula, she didn't have any man worth in this world that could fill the hole left in her heart after the death of the King of Vampires.
She hugged her legs and laid her back against the sliding door to the room.
Bzz…Bzz…Bzz…
All of a sudden, her phone was ringing.
She was a vampire. Her ears caught even the tiniest buzzing noises around her.
Vanessa stood back up and slid the glass doors open. Then, she walked to the phone and picked it up.
Surprisingly enough, it was an old friend calling her.
Incoming call by <Lacie…>
She swiped the phone and answered the call.
"Lacie… my darling. How are we doing this year?"
"Hi, Mrs. Dracula."
"You called me to wish me Happy New Year, did you?" A grin appeared on Vanessa's face, her usual humor returning.
"You wish, sweetie," Lacie chuckled from the other side.
Vanessa bit her lip, narrowing her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder why exactly her friend from the agency of Supernatural Investigations was calling her at a time like this.
"Mmm… is it about something relating to someone I drank? Ooo, lemme guess~" Vanessa paused, keeping a finger to her lips, pondering what horrible crimes she had committed in the recent weeks.
"Mmm… I didn't kill anyone too important last week, though. I did fuck a hipster and kill him. Why did you call me, darling?"
Lacie sighed.
"Well, you crazy bitch. I didn't call you for the usual business. It isn't about putting down an overpowered Supernatural either. More like a gift for you. As – fuck it. Happy New Year gift? To start off this year with a delightful memory."
Vanessa's grin disappeared. Her lips were uneven now. The tone of Lacie usually sounded as if she was begging her to kill off some Supernatural for money.
But this time, she wasn't requesting her usual business.
"What do you want from me?" Vanessa asked.
"Hah… I don't want anything from you. I'm giving you, Van. I'm giving you a gift."
"What gift? What can you possibly give me, Lacie?"
"A sweet taste of revenge. Something you've asked me to offer up a million times before – but I never did. The last living blood of Van Helsing, the man who butchered your husband."
Vanessa's heart skipped a beat. The mentioning of Van Helsing simply awakened some deep sense of rage inside of her that had led her to murder countless members of the Helsing family over the centuries.
Vanessa closed her eyes and breathed out, concealing the anger.
"I've killed hundreds of those. It doesn't give my husband back. But – I sure as fuck loved killing those bastards. Each one of them worse than the last," she muttered, furrowing her eyebrows.
Veins drew on her forehead when the memory of the Helsings came to her mind. Horrible memories.
"You know you want to, Van," Lacie said in an alluring tone.
Vanessa sighed. "Of course. They killed my husband."
For a while, there was silence between us. Vanessa wanted to accept the offer, but she still felt confused. Why would someone like Lacie give up a Helsing just like that?
It couldn't possibly be because she felt any kind of sympathy toward her.
"Hm… why don't you tell me why you really want this guy down, Lacie. I've known you for years. You aren't the type to give up someone like that without good reason. What did the horrible motherfuckers do now?"
Lacie chuckled. "Mmm… you seem rather focused, today. But actually, this guy is just someone I want to put an end to. His uncle made me promise that I would let him come into the Vampire hunting game once he had turned 18. So, I was responsible for this guy until last year."
Lacie paused for a while.
Vanessa could feel the regret of Lacie from the sudden silence. However, she couldn't help but chuckle at this.
"And you want him dead?"
Lacie sighed.
"I tried. He doesn't want to risk his life by entering the Helsing business apparently. Well, you know. There are hundreds of Supernaturals seeking revenge from Helsings, after all. Furthermore, he had been wasting away their family's treasury for the past year… throwing parties. Fucking whores. He's been acting like a human waste… and you know what happens when Helsings are wasted."
"He's still a kid?" Vanessa chuckled. "Still don't really see why you need him dead, sweetheart."
"Mmm… yeah. We have a bit of a money problem that I need to settle. If I don't settle this case, I will lose my job. So, basically, I want the treasury of the guy… and without him dead, I can't really get that sort of money anywhere else. No one is willing to give me money so easily anyway."
"What happens if you lose the case?"
Lacie sighed again.
"I lose my job. I lose all my protection provided by the Bureau. You know how this job is. If I get fucked on this case, my entire life is exposed. I'm just like a Helsing in that manner. I have a lot of enemies. You know I can't afford to lose my children, Van."
Vanessa thinned her lips, pondering whether to accept the offer or not.
Yet, even though she was a cold-hearted murderer, this was her friend's child.
"Shit. Fuck you, Lacie. I will accept the mission. For your daughter and little Pete… because I know what not having a child in your life would be like. I can't imagine how you'd feel if they died."
Lacie smiled and sighed in relief.
"I know I'm a selfish, cruel, messed up bitch… Haha, not very different from you. Can't imagine how I should repay you. But thank you… Van. I usually hate the shit you do to people. But for this, I love you."
"You're welcome, sweetheart. At least I'll be doing something good for once."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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