(48) Trevor Wallace – Dhampir

“Now we watch and wait?” Daniel asks.

“Yep. Not a bad spot. You did good.”

Daniel smiles. “I do have a brain; I just need to learn to use it.”

“So true.” I chuckle. Rest my arms on the parapet. Keeping an eye on the club. Mutter. “I hate stakeouts.”

Damned boring. Necessary though. Much later our target appears. Visible now. From our vantage point we watch. He moves swiftly down the street. Disappears around the corner. We follow. Rooftop to rooftop. Spot him again.

On the street now. Still tailing him. He must live close. Sleep close. Shortcutting down alleys. Finally. I smile when he slips through a yard. Through a door.

“Do we follow him in?” Daniel asks.

“Not till after sunup. That’ll give us plenty of time to find his lair in there. Nice house. I wonder if he owns it or is just taking advantage of whoever does.”

“They do that?”

“Hell yeah. They’ll pick a respectable place and make a den there. Sometimes they’ll even use the families to feed on in emergencies.”

“Damn.” He looks shocked.

“These are deadly predators, kid. Never forget that for a second. They’ll use whatever means necessary to survive and stay alive. They don’t care who they feed on, man, woman, child. It’s all the same to them.”

We settle in again. Waiting. The sun shows its face. No one appears. The house must be vacant. Except for our prey.

Moving silently. The door locked. Easily unlocked. Too easily maybe. Telling Daniel to wait. I slip inside. A basement. Dark. But not to me. My Vampyre side assisting me. He is a fool. Or foolhardy. A vague trail through the dust and dirt. One human eyes might not see. Ending at a blank wall.

I pause. Listening. He must be sleeping. Unless…

Returning to Daniel. “This is too easy. We’ll stay here till noon. Even an ancient will be asleep then.” Finding shade on the back porch to hide us. The kid dozes. I remain alert. Time passes slowly. Finally it’s time.

Wake Daniel. We go inside. Thin sunlight comes through dirt-streaked windows. I point to the wall. “He’s behind that.”

“And we’re out here. Now what?”

I point to a faint outline. “There was a door there once. So we find it again.” The basement was used once for many things. On one wall a workbench. Thick with dust. A few rusted tools. A crowbar. Screwdrivers. We start to work. Removing the layer of plaster. I was right. Slowly the door is revealed. By now it’s mid-afternoon.

Opening it inch by inch. We steal through. Into a small room. A bed on one side. Our prey there. Back against the wall. Sleeping. Weapons in both hands. I see why. Above us a trapdoor. He expected us to find it I suspect. To attack soon after dawn. Drop down into his clutches. Sometimes instinct pays off.

When he’s executed we leave. Go back to Daniel’s place. To sleep ourselves.