Vampire Attack!

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it does seem odd…" James said.

He had portaled over when I called him. He said that he had a hunch that was similar to mine so he came immediately. He walked around the campsite for a moment before stopping.

"Yeah. But why would they be covering their scent?"

"That's what I thought. If they're a demon, they smell like a demon! They don't have specific scents. Vampires smell like old blood, werewolves smell like the forest and wet dog, demons smell like brimstone, mermen smell like the ocean! There's no point!" I spoke in confusion.

"Shí ak'is?" Svangr called out to me.

"Sup, Svan? You got an idea?"

"What if it was none of those?"

I squinted my eyebrows. "You're saying… what if it was something that we haven't seen before? That's why they're hiding their scent?"

"Yes. If it is something that has a very unique scent, like a Druid?"

My eyebrows scrunched down even further. "Maybe… if it is something like that, then we'll have a bunch more shit to go over."

"Yeah." James said. "This isn't guaranteed, though. I'm hoping that this is the only one."

"Coyote." I turned my gaze to him. "You better stay here. I know you like going out all the time, but stay with your people."

He nodded. "Aoo'. My people are in need of a leader."

"Good. In the meantime-" I paused. "Can we get a necromancer on this?"

James turned to me, sullen. "Necromancy? Birger, that's… pretty damn evil…"

I'm sure you've heard of it before. The art of bringing the dead back to life. It wasn't all about saying 'arise' and suddenly you got a new powerful ally, however. It was more… debased than that. If a dead soul got called back into our world, where did it come from? Heaven, sometimes. Hell, most of the time. But every once in a while it would come from a person who had been reincarnated. Most of the time, a reincarnator would simply have their memories wiped and their soul cleansed before taking another step into the cycle. It's the same soul, but also not. If we were to call such a soul, then it would ruin them. No more reincarnation. No more afterlife. That's what being a ghost is. It's also why they tend to be pissed off twenty four-seven.

I nodded at him. "I know. I figure if we do this, I can call in a favor. Get them back on the track of reincarnation, at the least. They'll live through another life and establish their Karma before their death. Nothing will change."

"Still… the people that are in heaven won't be with the others that they've met, and the ones in hell would have escaped their penance."

Svangr spoke up in a sad tone. "Shí ak'is, it is taboo, even amongst Naagloshii."

I gripped my hair as I squatted down. *damn it! After all this? A fucking dead end on the person who killed them?*

"Well, you better think of something, James. This is what I've got."

"What about… someone that can see into the past? As if they were right next to them?"

"A clairvoyant? They're fairly rare… I haven't seen one in a few decades." I spoke with unbidden skepticism.

"I can call some guys? See if they know anything?" James' voice held a pleading tone.

I took a deep breath. "Fine. I don't want to get Necs involved either, but I won't hesitate if there was even a chance it could work."

He released a breath. "Alright. Go get some rest, Birger. You look like shit."

I laughed through my nose silently before standing up. "Yeah. Call if you find something."

"Will do." He opened a portal and stepped through, leaving me, Coyote, and Svangr.

"Ahéhee', Birger." Coyote said, thanking me.

"No problem."

"What will you do now?" He asked.

"Gonna go down to Georgia. Visit my family for a bit. They told me to come down a few weeks ago."

I turned to Svangr, and stared at him for a moment. "You can stay with Coyote, or I can get you a job?"

Svangr turned to Coyote for permission and Coyote nodded. "I will… get this 'job' that you speak of."

"Good. I'm sure he will like you." I opened a portal to Vlad's castle, the same place I'd met him before, and stepped through.

We had entered the same room that I had almost killed Morgan in. The smell of flowers stuck out amongst the scent of old wood and freshly painted flooring. They probably had to replace the wood that had been ruined by Morgan's blood.

I didn't know where Vlad would be, so I told Svangr to follow me as we walked towards the classroom I had met him in before. I knocked once before opening it. Seeing no one, I closed the door and continued on down the hall.

"What is this place?" Svangr's voice broke the silence.

"It's Vlad Dracul Tepes'… Castle? Home? House? Something like that. He lives here and teaches the fledglings about life as a Vampire."

"I have seen many vampires before. They are interesting creatures. You speak of 'Dracula', no? I've seen him fight in the war between Bats and Wolves. He is not someone to be taken lightly."

As we were walking down the hallway, a fledgling came out of a room and stared at Svangr in shock. She quickly averted her gaze and bowed her head as she passed us. We both stopped and stared at her retreating figure.

My eyebrows rose. "That… was odd."

"Why do you say?" He asked me in a sad voice.

"Why would she stare at you, who has the energy signature of a human?"

"I do?" Svangr asked me, surprised.

"Yeah. Coyote did that earlier." He opened his mouth but I cut him off. "Don't ask me how. That guy can do more shit with a can of soup than a dwarf can with a wrench."

I shook my head and stepped into the room the girl had left. Opening it, I found that it was another classroom filled with vampires. They were not fledglings, however. This was probably some kind of 'teachers lounge' judging by the separated cubical's and filing cabinets. One of the vampires looked up at me as I opened the door.

He tilted his head as he spoke. "Uh… why is a human here?"

The other vampires also stopped and looked at me. "Do you guys know where Vlad is?" I asked them.

A blond headed vampire stood up and marched towards me. "You dare refer to our sire in such a way?"

"Uh… yeah?" I tilted my head at the vampire. He had to have been around two hundred years old judging by his aura.

"You…" he reached a hand up to me, fingernails extended into claws.

I tilted my head to the side and knee'd him in the chest. "Okay… if you don't know, you could just say so?"

I spared another glance at the other vampires before closing the door lightly. I heard shuffling inside and made a run for it! Like I said, human, immortal, but pain, you know? I'm not a masochist so I ran like my life depended on it! Svangr ran next to me, on my left.

"Vlad! Get your fucking high school of the dead teachers off of me!" I yelled as I jumped to the side to avoid one of the vampires teeth.

I glanced behind me and my eyes bulged from my head. There were like fifteen of them chasing me! We went around a corner and kept sprinting. Vlad definitely heard me yell. He was probably enjoying this, now that I think about it. Anyway, after a few more minutes of running and dodging we came across a group of fledglings that were eating at what looked to be a cafeteria. I saw a couple from the class Vlad had given a few weeks earlier and yelled at them.

"Hey! Elliot! Catherine! Get your psycho teachers off my neck, will ya?" Pun intended, of course.

"Birger?" Elliot said in a confused voice. It slowly turned to panic, however, as he saw the vampires that were chasing me. "T-Teachers! P-Please stop!"

Brave kid, he was. He actually stood in front of a bunch of vampires that were more than ten times his age at least! He got trampled, though.

"What the fuck?!" I shouted in confusion as I kept running.

"Want me to take care of them, shí ak'is?" Svangr asked me.

"No!" I shouted at him. "We can't just kill them!"

I paused. Wait… we CAN kill them, I guess? If Vlad doesn't want to stop them and I don't want to get hurt, then I may as well just kill them!

I grinned.

"Change of plan, Svangr! Go crazy!" I lunged at one of them before I felt something hit me. hard.

"Gah!" I made a sound as I slid across the floor and hit one of the support beams. I felt my shoulder dislocate.

Svangr shouted my name and I looked up. He was being held in the air with a hand around his neck by Vlad, who turned to regard me with a blank face.

"Birger… I didn't take you for the murderous type." He said each word slowly.

"Yeah? well, maybe next time, you keep your suck-necks in line!" I shouted at him.

"You sneak into my castle and expect my brood to not wonder why a human is here? Then following your foolish thought, you attack one of them? What did you expect would happen?" Vlad continued to stare at me with a blank look, even as a grin threatened to break out.

"You're an asshole, man!" I said in exasperation.

"And this-" he looked at Svangr who was clawing at his arm. "Is a skin-walker."

"Yeah. His name is Svangr. Put him down and put my should in place, would ya?"

Vlad dropped Svangr and walked towards me and crouched down.

"3, 2-" he shoved my arm up and it popped into place.

I grimaced from the pain. "Thanks, dick."

He grinned. "Anytime!"

This fucker was definitely in a good mood, seeing me run away from a bunch of vamps that are younger than my little brother, Isaiah.

I put my hand out to Svangr and he helped me up to my feet. "Okay. Pleasantries, aside. Vlad, meet Svangr. Svangr, Vlad."

"Hello." Svangr said simply.

"Birger, why do you have a skin-walker with you? And why does it feel human?"

I sighed. "I don't care…" I groaned out. "He'll tell you himself, if he wants. For not let's go somewhere private to discuss getting him a job."

"When did you get so shy, Birger?"

I looked at him seriously for a moment. "I actually had a question about vampires. They get more beautiful as they age, right?"

He became serious as well when he noticed my tensed jaw. "Yes, that is correct…"

"So why the fuck are you getting uglier every time I see you?"

His jaw opened before closing. "You're a dick, Birger."

"Anytime!" I replied with a shit-eating grin.