"How well do you know this wizard?" Sarah asked on the way to your step-fathers car.
"He's helped out on a couple of cases before" your step-father said. "He had pointed us in the direction we needed to go when we had hit a dead end with the evidence we had. I've never met him though."
"Is he a real wizard?" you ask.
"I don't know" your step-father said. "As I said I never met him but he was able to give us some results and that was what mattered at the time. Now I hope that he is a real wizard."
"He could be a valuable asset if he is a real wizard" Dagger said.
After a few minutes you pull up to a medium sized house. There was a sign out front that said
Jason Dichtorn
Wizard
Office
Side Door
<-------------
"Nice to have your office in your home" you say.
"Yes it is" your step-father said. "I hope that he's available. Well, let's go in."
You get out of the car and go around the side of the house to Jason Dichtorn's office. There was a sign by the door saying that Jason Dichtorn was in. Your step-father rang the bell and soon a man in his mid twenties answered.
"Hello Lieutenant" he said. "Do you have some work for me?"
"Unfortunately I do" your step-father said.
"I've been expecting you since I saw the news" Jason said.
"We need your help Jason" your step-father said. "We need to catch the people who did that before any more people are killed."
"I agree" Jason said. "I've been preparing some stuff. I'll just gather it and then we can go."
Jason went back inside and left the door open. Your step-father and Dagger follow him in. You and Sarah tried to follow but when you tried to cross the threshold there was a brilliant flash of white light and you were thrown back.
"Ahhh!" you cry out in surprise and pain as you are thrown back.
Immediately Sarah, Dagger, and your step-father ran to your side. You are laying on the ground curled up in pain and trying not to scream again.
"Violet, are you all right?" your step-father asked.
"She is not all right" Jason said. "She is a vampire. You should get away from her before she bites you. She won't be able to move for awhile and you'll be perfectly safe if you move away from her."
Deciding that you don't want to stay curled up on the ground you push through the pain and stand up. The pain is incredible as you stand up but you manage it and take a few steps.
"That's impossible" Jason said in a shocked tone. "No vampire can get up from that. Your nerves were fried and your energy was interrupted. You should be on the ground for an hour yet."
"What was that?" your step-father asked.
"One of my wards" Jason said. "No vampire can cross it unless I invite them in. That's something that I have no intention of doing."
Your step-father hugged you in part to help keep you up but also to show that he loved you. You had seen him hug Megan like this like this but he had never hugged you. Maybe because you were 18 when your mother married him and he might think that it would look odd.
"Are you crazy!" Jason exclaimed. "You're hugging a vampire. She could bite you at anytime."
You pull away from your step-father and walk toward Jason. When you have taken a few steps you say "I would not bite my step-father unless he wanted me to. I may be a vampire but I am not a soulless fiend." Speaking caused you more pain but you spoke anyway. "I am not like other vampires that you have heard of."
"That's hard to believe" Jason said. "All vampires are the same. They prey on people to sustain themselves. They don't care about things such as their former family."
"If Violet is like all the other vampires how do you explain that she's out in broad daylight?" Dagger asked.
"There are a few very old vampires that can be out in broad daylight for a short while" Jason said.
"We don't have time to sit here" your step-father said. "I have to take Violet back to her house then get to the university."
"You don't need to take me back" you say through clenched teeth.
"Violet, you've been hurt and I want you to take it easy" your step-father said.
"I'm going with you" you said. "I can manage."
"She's a special vampire" Sarah said. "I think you should let her go Lieutenant. Otherwise she may find someway to follow us."
"Alright I'll let her come" your step-father said. "Sarah, Dagger, would you get Violet in the car? I want to speak with Jason alone."
"Of course Lieutenant" Sarah said. She and Dagger helped you to the car.
Once inside you slump against Sarah and said "I hurt Sarah."
"I know" Sarah said holding you. "It will pass though."
After a couple of minutes you close your eyes and then you hear your step-father get in the car.
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When you open your eyes again you find that you are just arriving at the university house. You don't hurt as much as you did before. In fact it's just a dull ache now. You wonder how long it took to get here.
"At last we're here" Dagger said.
"It only took forty minutes" Sarah said.
"That can't be right" you say. "It should have taken us ten minutes at most to get here."
"We were caught between two trains" your step-father said. "I see that Jason is already here. How are you feeling Violet?"
"A little sore but otherwise ok" you reply.
"Good" your step-father said. "Well we should get in there."
You all got out of the car and head to the house. Before you went in you step-father handed each of you a temporary badge.
Once inside the smell of blood hit you and called to you. It was old blood but it still called to you. You clamp down on your instants. You would not defile the dead.
"This may not have been a good idea" Sarah said. "The blood is calling to me. Violet was turned only a couple nights ago and she's been injured. I don't think she can control her instincts in this situation."
"You're a vampire too?" Jason asked.
"Yes I am" Sarah said.
"I can handle it Sarah" you say. "I won't defile the dead."
"It's not as easy as that" Sarah said. "You've been injured by magic and blood will help you heal. Even old blood like there is here."
"I can handle it" you insisted. "I will not defile the dead. I have a handle on my instincts."
"Your concentration may slip" Sarah said.
"It's not that different than misting" you say.
"We'll be sticking together anyway" Jason said. "I think that between us we can stop her from defiling the dead if need be."
"Jason is right about that" your step-father said. "Now let's see what we can find out."
After looking at several of the coffins you come to one whose occupant smelled different.
"Do you notice anything about this girl Violet?" Sarah asked.
"She's been dead for a long time" you say a bit hesitantly.
"Good" Sarah said. "She has been dead for a long time. Longer than just a few hours."
"That means that she was a vampire" Jason said.
"Yes it does" Sarah said.
"Can you tell how long she's been dead?" your step-father asked.
"I think at least two hundred years" Sarah said. "It's difficult to tell."
"Ok" your step-father said. "So we have one vampire in this group. There could be more."
As you go through you find two more vampires. You think that at least a couple of the burned bodies might have been vampires but it was difficult to tell since they were burned.
"Well we have three dead vampires here" your step-father said.
"There might be two who were burned" you say.
"Ok" your step-father said. "We have three, possibly five, dead vampires here. What we need to know is if the killers were vampire hunters or just paranoid people who thought they were vampire hunters."
"I think that they just thought they were vampire hunters" Dagger said. "A real vampire hunter wouldn't make this big of a mistake."
"I've known a few vampire hunters and I have to agree with you" Jason said.
"Now we need to find them" your step-father said. "Unless you can point us in the right direction Jason, we'll have to wait for forensics to point us in the right direction."
"They used magic to cover their tracks" Jason said. "It will take me awhile to find the trail."
"Ok we have to wait in any case then" your step-father said. "Why don't each of you go home while we wait. It may be a day or more to get the forensics results."
"I would like to stay here until I can pick up the trail" Jason said.
"Alright but make sure you call me before you follow that trail" your step-father said. "The same goes for the rest of you. If you hear anything, call me."
Everyone agreed to this and you departed the crime scene.