Chapter Fourteen

NEXT DAY

ROSE

Four more missing students, four dead bodies, and at least one vampire was responsible. I suspected my boyfriend Ricky and felt awful, but if he was doing this then he needed to be stopped before four more dead bodies showed up and the townspeople came knocking with pitchforks on Chris's front door hunting the vampire.

I needed some advice and remembered Ville and Lauri giving me their numbers if I needed to talk to them. Managing to get out of the house without an escort, I wanted to be far away from the house so no one could nose in on my conversation.

Dialling Ville's number I find a rather comfortable grave to lean against and wait for him to pick up, which he does on the third ring.

"I was wondering when I'd get a call you, Rose."

"Ville there's a problem."

Ville shuffles down the other end of the line before speaking.

"What's happened?"

I sigh, "You know I had those high school bullies. Well, four went missing and turned up dead drained of blood with two holes in the necks, and now the other four bullies have gone missing."

"So why are you ringing me, Rose?"

I kick some stones by my shoes glancing back towards Chris's house where he'd welcomed me with open arms.

"I woke up next to Ricky and he was covered in blood, and he's the only vampire in the house whose met my bullies and threatened them. I suspect he's kidnapping and then killing them for me. Chris, Josh, Vinny and Ryan are worried what attention will do especially since people in town are talking about vampires."

It didn't get easier telling people that I suspected him of murder. Ville stays silent for a few seconds obviously taking in my news because it was a lot to take in. I tap my fingers on the cold stone hoping Ville had some answers for me.

"I wasn't expecting that. There's only one thing I can suggest if you want to clear Ricky's name or find out if he's actually doing the killing. It's going to sound morbid but I'm pretty sure you can rope a few other vampires into helping you."

"I can do morbid Ville; hit me with your best shot."

At this point, I would do anything to clear Ricky's name.

Ville chuckles darkly, "it involves a trip to the morgue when maybe you'll be able to see the last moments of their lives and catch a glimpse of the killer vampire. If you channel that you want to talk to the dead and touch the back of their head, then maybe just maybe you'll resurrect them for a couple of minutes."

I was shocked; Ville was suggesting resurrecting the dead. Necromancy was dark magic, and death sense was already teetering on the edge. Even if it was only for a couple of minutes, necromancy was pretty morbid even for my liking. But I wanted to do anything to find out who the killer was to make sure Chris could stop them and find the four missing students alive.

"Are you still there Rose?"

"I guess I'm going to the morgue then Ville. I'll keep you updated. But I should really head back to the house now before Chris gets suspicious of my long walk."

"Goodbye, Rose and good luck."

Ville hangs up and I slip my phone back into my pocket, but not before sending three messages to Josh, Vinny, and Ryan telling them to meet me in my bedroom after everyone else had gone out hunting.

~Night~

The rest of the vampires go out to hunt leaving me, Josh, Ryan, and Vinny alone in the house. I sit on my bed and the three vampires file inside looking confused as to why I'd summoned them.

"You have a look on your face Rose that tells me you're determined about something." Josh jokes, sitting on the edge of the bed.

I sigh loudly, "Since I believe you three to be innocent of the kidnappings and murders, I want to recruit you to break into the morgue with me tonight. Any questions?"

"Err, just one question Rose. Why do you need to break into the morgue?" Ryan questions, scratching the top of his head while keeping Vinny close.

I go on to explain the phone call with Ville and the three vampires are shocked at the mention of necromancy to catch the killer.

"You want to talk to the dead Rose? Well, then it looks like we're coming with you."

Vinny grins, obviously more optimistic than Josh and Ryan.

~Morgue~

There was surprisingly a lot of security for a morgue. It probably had to do with the high profile case of the four dead students. The four of us get out of the car, deciding to send Vinny in first to charm the security guards without any hassle.

"I don't like the idea of Vinny flirting with anyone other than me, even if it is for a good cause Rose."

Ryan clenches his fist, pissed off as through the glass front door it was pretty apparent Vinny was flirting with several security guards. Josh moves forwards and puts a hand on Ryan's shoulder and squeezes.

"Calm down Ryan, we need your level head right now. Trust me you're the only person Vinny wants to fuck."

Ryan sighs and unclenches his fist just as Vinny waltzes out of the morgue looking pretty smug with himself.

"We can go in guys and one guy is getting the four bodies ready for us..."

Vinny's cut off by Ryan grabbing him roughly and smashing his lips down on his. Vinny kisses him back leaving me and Josh to stare at each other, before Josh motions for the two of us to go inside while the lovebirds had a moment.

The guards let us through the door and I immediately start to shiver at the drop in temperature. Josh shrugs off his jacket and puts it around my shoulders to keep me warm. Vampires couldn't feel cold because they were already cold, but as a human, I could feel the cold air.

"I'll take notes while you talk to the dead Rose. Are you sure you want to do this? Necromancy is very dark magic, Chris won't approve."

"A few minutes won't turn me to the dark side, Josh. I just need to get used to seeing a dead body first."

Josh nods and pushes open the door and a wave of freezing cold air consumes us.

"We're here to join the dead party."

Ryan and Vinny appear out of nowhere holding hands. I roll my eyes and walk into the room where four body bags had been laid on four separate tables. Josh puts a hand on my back nudging more forwards.

"Ryan and I will take notes, Rose, Vinny will unzip the bags, and that leaves you to talk to the dead okay?"

Vinny and I walk towards the first body bag and I have to breathe through my nose to stop myself throwing up. I was about to see my first dead body. I nod and Vinny unzips the bag revealing Jade who looked like she was peacefully sleeping.

"Take your time Rose."

I know Vinny was trying to reassure me, but I wanted to get this done with quickly so I didn't have to look at dead bodies for long. With shaking hands, I bring them under Jade to cup the back of her head and concentrate on talking to her. Suddenly her eyes dart open, her breathing heavy making me jump.

"Where am I?"

I'd never heard Jade scared before, but the fear in her voice was evident. Licking my lips I glance over at Vinny who motions for me to answer the question.

"Jade, you're in the morgue you were killed. Can you tell me what happened?"

Jade starts to calm down her breathing returning to normal, "Jaime covered me so I didn't see anything...oh god I'm dead..."

I sigh, "We're going to catch your killer Jade."

I release her head and her eyes close again and her breathing ceases. Vinny zips the bag back up. Ryan clears his throat from across the room.

"Well, that's not something you see every day. Hopefully, the next body is more informative."

Vinny and I move to the second bag which held Leigh-Anne. I take another breath and cup the back of her head bringing her back from the dead.

"Leigh-Anne it's Rose, can you tell me what happened before you died?"

"There were two figures, one stayed off in the shadows while the smaller male killed Jaime and Jade first because one of them called the shadowed figure a freak. I'm sorry for tormenting you all those years Rose." Leigh-Anne stutters.

I lock eyes with Josh who jots down Leigh-Anne's information before I stroke her hair.

"You're in a better place now Leigh-Anne."

I move my hands and she goes back to sleep. Vinny zips up the bag and I stand back taking deep breaths, this was a lot to take in.

"So we have two figures, it could be that the one in the shadows is manipulating the smaller figure. Maybe we have two suspects Rose instead of one."

I knew Josh was trying to reassure me that this information could potentially mean Ricky was off the hook if we had multiple suspects.

"Onto the next one Rose." Vinny chimes.

Jaime resides in the third bag, I go through the same routine and he wakes up.

"Jaime, it's Rose, can you please tell me what happened just before you died?"

Jaime gasps, "I had to protect Jade, but the person who attacked us was male and had really sharp teeth like something out of a horror film and pitch black eyes with black veins snaking around his eyes."

I release Jaime. So it looked like at least one of the figures was a small male or was very much a vampire. Tony was in the last bag, looking different without his signature snapback. I cup his head and watch him come back to life; he was the calmest out of the four.

"Tony, can you tell me what you saw please?"

He nods and starts to describe Ricky word for word much to my horror and the three vampires in the room. My worst nightmare was coming true, Ricky had killed four people and had kidnapped another four.

"Thank you, Tony, now I'll let you go back to sleep."

Releasing Tony I run my fingers through my hair in shock, the only sound in the room coming from Vinny zipping the bag back up.

"It looks like your suspicions were right Rose. The dried blood on Ricky could coincide with these dead bodies. I'm sorry."

Vinny actually hugs me, and I'm happy for the vampires comfort. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes as I lock eyes with Josh again who looks just as distressed. Ryan keeps his face emotionless; at least one of us was being strong right now. It looked like we'd have to go back to the house and confront Ricky, something I wasn't looking forward to.