Chapter 5

The alarm went off at 8:00. Kenzie reached across the bed to the nightstand and turned it off. She then yawned, stretched, sat up, and looked around. Sunlight was pouring in through the windows, though not very much. The lamp on the bedside table was still burning bright. Kenzie was surprised she'd been able to sleep with it. Normally she had to have a room completely dark in order to fall asleep.

Stretching once more, she flung her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet sank into the soft carpet. Using her arms as leverage, Kenzie stood up and walked over to the dresser. The day looked like it was going to be a nice one, so she pulled out capris and a short-sleeved shirt. She then put some tennis shoes on her feet.

After putting on her makeup, Kenzie realized she could use some breakfast, but her hotel room lacked a kitchen. However, there was a small cafe downstairs that offered meals. So she grabbed her purse and evidence kit -- she called it that since it held her camera, rubber gloves, fingerprint dusting powder, and other mystery solving items -- then took her fully charged cell phone off the charger, locked her door, and rode the elevator downstairs. Once in the lobby, she continued down a short hallway to the cafe.

A few other tourists were there enjoying coffee and donuts. Kenzie had been informed on the phone when she'd first heard about this case that Bridgeport was a very popular place to visit due to celebrities living there, but tourism had plummeted when all the bodies kept showing up. That was yet another reason for her to solve the case.

Kenzie walked up to the service table and grabbed a bowl. She poured some cereal into it and orange juice into a small cup. She then sat down at a nearby table and began eating. All the while, she was thinking about potential suspects.

Isaiah was still a suspect, but it also seemed likely that Margo had probable cause. She hated vampires because her daughter wanted to become one, but the murders were definitely the work of a vampire. Margo was human, so she wouldn't have been able to  take the lives of those people. But it was also possible that she had an accomplice who happened to be a vampire, and she was asking him or her to commit these crimes to prove something to her daughter. That seemed pretty unlikely and far-fetched, especially since Margo hated even socializing with vampires, but again, Kenzie had to consider every angle.

After finishing her cereal and juice, Kenzie stood up and threw the Styrofoam bowl and cup into the recycling bin. Grabbing her purse and evidence kit, she then walked outside. As soon as she got into her car, her cell phone rang. The caller ID showed it to be Chief Tobias.

"Hello?" Kenzie answered.

"Hello Ms. Howell. I hope you got checked into your hotel all right."

"I did, thanks. Isaiah also showed me where Hogan's was so I had supper too."

"That's good news. I also hope you got plenty of sleep, because we have a busy day ahead of us."

"I made sure to get plenty of sleep and I just got up about forty minutes ago. I just finished breakfast, and now I'm on my way to the station."

"That's great, because I've got some autopsy photos from Margo here. I also got your photos from last night. Thanks for those."

"You're welcome. I'll be there pretty soon."

"All right, Isaiah's already here so we'll see you soon."

"All right. Goodbye."

Kenzie hung up the phone and started her car. Isaiah was at the police station already? What if he was trying to cover his tracks for something?

Despite the possibility, Kenzie's gut told her otherwise. And in the past, her gut feelings were correct most of the time. Isaiah seemed sincere enough, and when she'd looked into his eyes, she'd seen sorrow and regret. He genuinely didn't want this life.

After arriving at the public services office and exiting her car, Kenzie walked to the police station and was greeted by some chaos. Allison, the officer from yesterday, was talking to an officer who had a teenage girl dressed all in black with black gloves, boots, and black and white streaked hair behind him. Carson and Isaiah were there as well, Carson trying to calm the girl down, Isaiah trying to restrain her since she had no handcuffs on.

"This is none of your business!" the girl was screaming at the top of her lungs. She fidgeted uncontrollably, trying desperately to break free of Isaiah's grasp.

"Oh, hello Kenzie," Carson said when he saw her. "Sorry about this. We had an incident literally right after you and I hung up, as you can see."

"What's going on?"

"Let me go!" the girl was screaming. "You'll regret this, all of you! I'll kill you all!"

"Isaiah, please," Carson said, indicating Kenzie. Isaiah nodded and said, "Come with me, Kenzie. We'll talk in Carson's office."

So Kenzie found herself following Isaiah into Carson's office. Once inside, he closed the door behind him and sat in one of the two chairs in front of Caron's desk. Kenzie sat in the other one.

"In answer to your question as to what's going on," Isaiah said, "Officer Biggs found that girl running around town. More specifically, she was jumping in between shadows of buildings and skipping school."

"Why was she doing that?"

"That's Valerie Kingston, Margo's daughter. The one who wishes to become a vampire."

"Oh, I see. So that's what she meant when she said she'd kill us all."

"Yes, she thinks she'll exact her revenge on us when she gets changed into a vampire. She took one look at me before you came here and started begging me to change her, even offering me money if I did so. But I'll never turn anyone into this. I don't care if their life depends on it; no one deserves this curse."

More screaming was heard from the front desk. Kenzie recognized the deeper voice of Margo.

"So her mother was called," she said.

"Indeed. Law says that children, no matter the age, must go to school if they're physically and mentally able to attend. That includes Valerie, but she thinks it's a waste of time since she's so determined to become a vampire anyway."

"I wonder what got her so interested in vampires."

"I'm not sure, but it's been going on for quite some time. She decided about a year ago that she wanted to join the dark side. But enough of that; how did you sleep last night?"

"I slept very good, thanks. I got all my unpacking done and emailed the pictures to Carson."

"Yes, he showed me those earlier."

Just then, Carson came into his office and shut the door behind him. He heaved a heavy sigh before leaning his body against the wall.

"That girl gets a little worse every time I see her," he said, almost to himself. "If this gets much worse..."

He seemed to realize Kenzie and Isaiah were still in the room. He looked at them and asked, "Kenzie, did Isaiah fill you in on what all that was?"

"Yeah, he told me all about Valerie."

"Well, I'm scared for her. At this rate, she'll be looking at juvenile detention. She keeps skipping school, thinking she's above the law, and won't give up on this vampire stuff."

"What does Margo say about it?"

"She hates it, but I can tell by looking at her she's tired of dealing with it. I think she caves a little more every time she gets called in here to bring her daughter home. Now that I've told her Valerie may have to go to juvenile detention if this keeps up, she'll probably give up."

"This may not be the best time, but do you think she's a suspect?"

"Margo? Why would she be a suspect?"

"I'm just thinking she might have an accomplice committing all these murders to send a message to her daughter."

"What kind of message? That vampires kill humans? At this rate I don't think Valerie really cares who she'd end up hurting."

"No, maybe she's trying to show her daughter how bad vampires are, the way she sees them."

"I suppose that could be, but I hope you have some sort of proof of that claim."

"Unfortunately I don't, I'm just shooting off theories."

The telephone on the desk rang. Carson went behind his desk and picked it up.

"This is Tobias," he said into the receiver. The person on the other end of the line said something that made Carson sit down into his chair, nearly missing it since it was crooked. After steadying himself, he said into the phone, "When was this?"

Isaiah's eyebrow furrowed. He was undoubtedly reading the chief's mind to figure out what was going on. Kenzie didn't point out how rude that was. She hoped he didn't hear that either.

Finally, Carson hung up the phone and faced them both.  "Well, we have another victim," he said, "but this one's different."

"Different? How?" Kenzie asked.

"This one was actually hidden, unlike the others. It's like whoever did this tried to keep from being discovered."

"That breaks the pattern. Were there bite marks on the victim?"

"Yes, and they look similar to the others. We'd need to see them to confirm."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go see the body."

"Just what I was about to suggest. After you."

So Kenzie got up from the chair and headed out the door, with Isaiah and Carson right behind her. She was getting very worried. She hadn't even been in Bridgeport for a full day and the bodies kept stacking up. This had to stop. And Kenzie was determined to get to the bottom if this case once and for all.