Chapter 3

Dante unlocked the front door and began to make his way towards the study where he knew Alex would be waiting, probably planning the necessary paperwork Dante would need for the next day. Except that when Dante entered the study Alex wasn't doing any of that. Instead Alex was sitting with his feet propped up on the desk, headphones on and a game controller in his hands. On the three screens in front of him, Dante could see a soldier with his gun pointed, running around in between buildings.

"Come on bastard. Where are you?" Alex said and he made his avatar run up the stairs of an abandoned building. Dante decided to have some fun.

"Right behind you!" Dante yelled grabbing Alex's shoulders causing him to scream a high pitched scream that could shatter glass. Dante broke down laughing while Alex turned around, one hand clutching his heaving chest while the other took off his headphones.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Alex asked distressed. Dante could hear how fast Alex's heart was beating which only made him laugh more.

"I couldn't resist." Dante shrugged once he got a hold of himself, "By the way," Dante pointed towards the screen, "You just died." Alex turned around quickly to look at the screen as the words You died flashed on it. Alex groaned,

"Do know how long I've waited to take down ShotMaster2.0?" Alex asked as he exited the game. He then leaned back on his chair and turned around again to face Dante, a look of irritation on his face. Dante chuckled again,

"My bad. You should have told me it was a serious game beforehand." Dante said innocently.

"Well maybe if you have given me time to tell you instead of scaring me half to death, I could inform you of that." Alex replied as he stood up and left the study, heading towards the kitchen.

"Aww, did I scare you?" Dante asked following him.

"Whatever." Alex grumbled and poured himself a glass of milk.

"Well you must have been very scared in order to pour yourself a glass of milk." Dante mocked with a grin.

"I hate you." Alex said glaring at Dante from across the kitchen, "So, where'd you go?"

Dante wanted to continue to tease Alex but decided to let it go, afraid his loyal secretary would quit his job, so Dante walked over to the kitchen island and took a seat on one of the black leather stools.

"I went to see Uncle Sam." Dante said and reached for Alex's glass of milk but Alex pulled it away making Dante pout.

"What did he have to say?" Alex asked leaning forward and resting on his forearms on the counter top.

Dante sighed, "Nothing useful, just that there was trouble ahead." Alex nodded his head, passing the glass of milk to Dante before saying goodnight.

After Alex left for bed, Dante remained in the kitchen thinking about what to do. The only good thing Dante could think of was that he knew all the vampires seeing as he was the only one who could create them. That at least narrowed his field enough for him to figure out who might be behind the death of the young man. Only it didn't make sense, what did killing one young man benefit them. Who was this man anyway and what made him special? Dante decided that his head was too busy to be able to fall asleep so he went to the study to search the internet.

Once inside the study, Dante sat in the chair and opened the internet icon. He first search for an article about the young man but found nothing interesting. The only way to find out who killed him is to find out who went to visit him at the time, but even if someone visited him at the time, the police detective would have already looked into it and Dante being the proud vampire he was was not going to ask the detective, instead he was going to find out by himself. Dante was about to turn around and head for bed when another article caught his eye.

SEVERAL MISSING FROM SAN DIEGO

The city of San Diego sits in horror as sudden disappearances have begun to occur starting from the 6 of April. A total of twelve people have been reported missing, causing the city to be in a state of terror wonder who would be next to disappear. The police suspect that there is a serial killer on the loose, although this is just a mild speculation as none of the bodies have been found yet.

In other news, there has also been reports of several homeless people missing from the streets and although this is a small grace for the poor people, others believe that a human trafficker is involved.

The police assure the public that they are doing their best to find all the missing people and that families should not lose hope.

Dante leaned back in the chair and rubbed his neck. People going missing is not an uncommon thing, but for several of them to go missing in just an amount of several days cannot be coincidence. Dante opened the folder with the missing persons faces and stared at a total of eight men and four women. Dante sighed again and closed the internet tab. He pushed his chair away from the table then headed over to his bedroom. He stopped when he saw something move in the corner of his eye outside. Dante stared outside, turning his eyes a shade of yellow to see in the dark, but he didn't see anyone or anything there. Dante turned into his bats and passed through the window and landed outside on the grass in his human form. Dante listened intently before finally deciding to head back inside. If someone was there watching him, they were gone now.

~~~

Dante and Alex exited his building and were making their way to the car when Dante stopped.

"What is it, boss?" Alex asked concerned. Alex then began looking around for anything suspicious and turned to Dante who was looking down the alley next to the building.

"I smell blood." Dante said before walking towards the alley. Alex was about to follow but Dante held out his hand gesturing for Alex not to move. Dante followed the scent until he finally came across a body sprawled on the floor next to the dumpster. Dante kneeled down next to the body and placed his finger by the man's neck, feeling for a pulse, but felt nothing. Dante stared at the dead man and noticed a name tag attached to his suit.

Dany Crue, Intern

Dante bowed his head and sighed. He quickly turned when he heard a woman scream who was looking at him and the dead body beside him. Just great, Dante thought, this was going to be a long afternoon.

It didn't take long for the police to arrive. They cordoned the crime scene off and yellow tape created a barrier that no one was to cross. Dante was told to wait until the chief detective arrived and watched as forensic scientist began taking samples and photos of the dead man.

"Mr Cabrera," a man called, making Dante turn and groan internally when Detective Brian and Joeye walked towards him. Dante stood up straight from where he was sitting on the rim of a potted plant.

"Second murder this week. Same street, this time next to your building. Must be some coincidence." Detective Brian said as he took out a notebook from inside his blazer.

"Second murder?" Dante asked, "I thought the man from earlier this week committed suicide?"

"It would seem not. Apparently young Mr Davis was seeing a client at the time. Maybe you'll recognize him." Brian said as he held up a photo for Dante to see of the client who allegedly pushed the young man from the window. Dante immediately recognized the man as one of the missing suspects fom San Diego, but it was impossible, only Dante could turn people into vampires and Cho had said that the man was drained of blood before he fell. "Do you recognize him? His name is Andy Browen." Brian asked after a while of watching Dante.

Dante snapped out of it and shook his head, "No, I don't recognize him." Dante looked over Brian's shoulder to see a anxious looking Alex.

"Are you sure?" Detective Brian asked. When Dante just stared at him, Brian said, "Okay, well, we'll need you to come down to the station to deliver a statement." Dante nodded and followed the two detectives towards their car. Dante looked towards Alex then nodded. Alex returned the nod then climbed into his car to follow Dante to the station.

After Dante had finished giving his statement he was about to leave when Detective Brian stopped him.

"I know you're involved somehow. I'm going to figure it out, I promise you." Brian said before he opened the door for Dante to leave.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Detective Wilfred." Dante said and left the station, greeting Alex who was waiting outside.

"Are you okay? Are you arrested? Are you going to jail? Ahh what am I going to do?" Alex questioned grabbing his hair and pacing up and down the sidewalk next to the car.

"Relax, kiddo. I just had to deliver a statement." Dante said with a smile. Alex looked relieved with his hands on his hips.

"Next time you smell blood, turn the other way. This kind of stress isn't good for my health." Alex said tossing Dante the car keys before heading over to the passenger seat. Dante chuckled as he tossed the keys in the air and caught them. He then climbed into the car and drove the two of them home. At least one good thing came from today, Detective Brian had confirmed Dante's suspicion that the suicide, was not a suicide.

When they arrived home, Dante drove slowly as dark mist was covering the road that led to the house. The two men climbed out the car and watched as the black mist began to receed to a specific spot and they watched as a man stepped out the mist.

"Leave you alone and everthing turns to shit." The man says lifting his head to reveal his face that was hidden from the shadow of the hat he wore. Dante smiled softly at the sight of his old friend.

"It's good to see you too, Victor." Dante replied as he walked up towards the man, the mist completely gone. Alex walked forward slowly to greet the new stranger, "Alex this is Victor Hansel, the friend I spoke to you about a few months ago." Dante said introducing the two, "Victor, this is Alex Keith."

"Ahh, so this is the boogey man." Alex said remembering the conversation he had with Dante a few months ago,

"So, are there any other types of supernaturals that I should know about?" Alex asked as he and Dante sat in the dining room having dinner.

"Sure, there are a few that I've become aquainted to over the years." Dante replied taking another bite of his steak.

"Like who?" Alex asked. He had only found out Dante's secret a few weeks ago and took it better than Dante would have expected.

"A few centuries ago I met a man in Virginia. He was the one who helped me get the necessary documents to live in the community and he is the one who updates my status til this very day. Over the years we've become very good friends. He's probably one of the few people I can count on." Dante answered.

"So what is he?" Alex asked intrigued.

"The Boogey Man." Dante replied watching Alex's expression carefully. Alex nodded for a while staring at the table before speaking again,

"So is he the one responsible for my nightmares and such?"

Dante laughed, "That is the legend. Victor can make people see and believe what ever he wants them to. Sure, he may have used his ability in the past to scare his enemies but he is a very different man now. He's a lawyer." Dante took a sip of his wine.

"Isn't that unfair?" Alex asked, "He can just make the jury believe him no matter what."

"Victor doesn't abuse his ability like that. He only uses it when he knows the person is innocent and the jury doubts him." Dante answered.

"Still sounds like cheating." Alec mumbled making Dante chuckle.

"So this is the human." Victor replied in return and shook Alex's hand.

"I'll go prepare a room for you." Alex said before turning to leave after Victor thanked him.

"What are you doing back here?" Dante asked once they entered the house and the three men sat around the living room with a glass of whiskey or beer in hand.

"I've been reading the news. People missing from San Diego, two deaths in the same week in Los Angeles. Somethings is up." Victor replied.

"I agree. I'm glad you're here. I can use a man of your specific talents." Dante said cocking his glass of whiskey towards Victor before taking a sip. Victor nodded.

"Alex," Dante said turning to where Alex was sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand, "Clear my scheduel for the next few days. We got some work to do."

"You got it boss." Alec replied.

"We're going to need to look further into the disappearances in San Diego and find who is making vampires, and how."