Vampire Shift - By Tim O'Rourke Page 0,6

the corner of his mouth, Constable Potter looked at me and said, “And you are?” Before I could answer, Murphy had cut in and said, “This is Kiera Hudson, our new recruit.” Drawing on the end of his cigarette, Potter smiled at me and asked, “Do you have a problem with me smoking?” Meeting his stare, I said, “No, but I just don’t think you should be smoking here – after all it is a crime scene. At training school…”

“…they fill your head with shit,” Potter cut in. “This is the real world, sweetheart.”

I was just about to tell him that I wasn’t his sweetheart, when Luke said, “Kiera says that there was three of them and that the boy has been here at least three days.”

I don’t think Luke said this to embarrass me, I think he really was impressed with what I had told him. Blowing smoke out of his nostrils, Potter laughed and said, “Looks like we got a right little Miss Marple this time around.” Eyeing Potter, Sergeant Murphy said, “Okay Sean, that’s enough. Let’s hear what the girl’s got to say.” At first I didn’t say anything, fearing that Potter would start ragging on me again. I know that I’d only just met him, but I already disliked the guy.

“Go on Kiera, tell them what you told me,” Luke said, and he sounded supportive, like a good friend would.

“Go on Hudson,” Sergeant Murphy urged. “You’re with friends here.”

So pointing the torch back at the body of Henry Blake, I crouched down and started to point out the footprints, blisters, and fluid which had come from the boy’s mouth, nose, and ears. Before I’d finished, Potter had started to spray laughter into the darkness.

“What a bunch of horseshit!” he cried. “I don’t know what they’ve been teaching you at training school but whatever it is, you ain’t in no episode of ‘CSI’.”

Standing, I looked at Luke and feeling embarrassed, I wished that I hadn’t said anything.

When Potter had stopped laughing, he flicked his cigarette away into a nearby bush and Sergeant Murphy stepped towards me.

“I admire your enthusiasm Kiera, but Sean is right, this ain’t no T.V. program, this is real life. Being a police officer in the real world ain’t like what you’ve been watching on T.V.”

Although Murphy was trying to comfort me, I couldn’t help but feel that he was patronising me.

“I haven’t been watching -” I started.

“Kiera, this is a well-walked route by hikers and ramblers. Those footprints could have been left here by anyone. And so what if there aren’t any tracks leading to and from the murder scene? As far as we know, it could have been a really hot day and the earth could’ve been as dry as a bone.”

I wanted to tell him, that in the cool shade of the trees, it was very unlikely that the ground would’ve been rock hard, but I knew there was little point. He didn’t want some newbie coming into his town and telling him how to do his job. So, however much it pained me, I kept quiet.

I was damp from the rain and cold. Not being able to hide my shivers any longer, Luke approached me, and wrapping an arm about my shoulders, he said, “C’mon, let me get you to your room.”

Without any resistance, I let Luke guide me away from the mutilated body of the boy. As I went, I looked back to see Potter lighting up another cigarette. Looking at me, he smiled and blew a cloud of smoke up into the night. I watched the smoke rise upwards, and as it dispersed, I noticed something. Aiming Luke’s torch up into the trees, I could see that the branches above the boy were snapped and broken as if someone or something had crashed through them.

Turning away, I let Luke lead me to my car. Ten minutes later, I was pulling up outside the Crescent Moon Inn.

“Is this it?” I asked, looking out of the window at the weary-looking building. It almost seemed to lean to the right, as if at any moment it was going to topple over. The roof was thatched and the windows were lattice in design. Wild ivory climbed over the front of the Inn, and up across the roof like a giant green claw. The windows glowed orange from within and a sign which read The Crescent Moon Inn wailed back and forth in the wind.

Swinging open the passenger door, Luke went to climb