CHAPTER 3

Upper Edgefield Park, New York

Upstairs in City Hall, Mayor Littleton and his four municipal council members; Franklin Joiner, Joseph Baker, Lyndon Bales, and Cornelius Macdonald, made the Mayor’s office their home base when the entire building became a refuge for the town’s population of vampires. Of the twenty-five members of the Police Force, only Officers Donavan and Petrie stayed human, used as daytime cronies for the vampires, for fear that the vampires would hurt their families should they not do their bidding.

After sunset, Cornelius Macdonald’s wife Nancy and their two boys showed up at City Hall. Small, wrinkled and fierce, she made every effort to commandeer the entire goings on in City Hall. She slammed a hard copy of the Upper Edgefield Park Gazette on the Mayor’s desk. “We have to stop him!” She griped, referring to the Gazette’s Editor, Nick Star. “It’s all over the county and the internet. Anybody can read this.”

Cornelius put his hands on his wife’s shoulders, “We’re working on it, honey,” he sympathized.

“We dumped most of the bodies in the morgue,” Bales explained, “Nobody’s going to examine them. I made sure of that. Doctor Barton is one of us.”

Baker laughed, “If anything, he’ll eat what’s left.”

“And I dragged Marge’s body out of the house and left it in the yard,” Mayor Littleton explained, “As soon as daylight came, she turned to ashes, so there’s no problem there.”

“But she was vampire,” Baker said, “She was with us.”

The Mayor smirked, “I’ve been trying to get rid of that bitch for years. What better time?”

“No problem?” Nancy angrily challenged him, “Your wife’s own maid Cloris, blabbed to the doctors that your wife died.”

“Cloris is no longer with us now, is she,” the Mayor snickered. “The doctors know nothing.”

“They may not, but that editor, Star, keeps snooping around. If his paper and internet paper gets into the wrong hands….”

“Whose wrong hands,” Mayor Littleton cut her off.

“Lullaby and her three brats,” Nancy answered quickly.

The Mayor and his staff, including Nancy’s husband, laughed, “Is that who you’re afraid of?”

“Yes,” Nancy answered, and then bunched her two boys together and hugged them. “They travel from town to town, killing everyone turned by Raum. I heard just last week they went into a small town in Pennsylvania and wiped out the town.”

“Honey, you’re being a little dramatic,” Cornelius said.

“I’m not being dramatic,” she answered. “You, all of you, have the power to order him killed, and you just stand there.”

“Why have him killed?” The Mayor asked, “It’s better to have a man with his power on our side?”

“Yes, but when?” Nancy huffed, “He’s out and about all day while we sleep, and he stays in the church from sundown to sunup.”

“She’s right,” Cornelius agreed with his wife, “He knows about us and the creator. He knows we can’t touch him in the daytime.”

“And he gets sanctuary from the church every night,” Bales added.

The Mayor rubbed his chin while pacing the floor. “It’s just a small problem,” he smiled, “A problem which can be easily fixed.”

“How?” Nancy asked.

“Well, it seems all we have to do is keep our newspaper boy, Nick Star, from getting to the church before sundown.”

“And exactly how do you suppose we accomplish that?” Bales asked.

Littleton rubbed his palms together. “Joe, do me a favor. Run down stairs and get those two officers, Donavan and Petrie. I think it’s about time they arrested someone in this city.”

“I like that,” Nancy sneered, “We just have to have a reason to lock him up.”

“Do we need a reason?” Cornelius asked, “Just lock him up and tell him we’ll let him go soon.”

Franklin Joiner laughed, “Poor man will never see daylight again after tomorrow.”

“Let me do it,” Nancy said eagerly, “Let me turn him.” She called to her children, “Cooper? Colt? Would you like to watch mommy and daddy turn Mr. Star into a vampire like us?”

Both children nodded with excitement and anticipation.

“Sometimes it may only be one person; other times, a mob,” Miss Lullaby spoke softly, emotionless, to Nick Star, “They can be at home, or at a sports game in some giant arena, or even on a battlefield filled with enemies. But whether it’s one person or many, I just see their outlines; I know they’re real, and when they become unreal, that’s when a fog of pure adrenalin creeps into my head. There’s tension, excitement, and even when I’m weary, I feel euphoria. Everything comes together; my blood recalls that son-of-a-bitch as if it happened yesterday, so when it’s over, it’s hard to remember how I killed those he turned, or how I ordered the triplets to kill them. And when someone like you asks me if I killed them all and set the town free of all vampires, I say vaguely, “Yes, isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?” She slowly closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

Miss Lullaby left Nick speechless. They stood side by side in front of City Hall. The Mayor and his staff had taken the rooms on the upper floor. The middle floor housed the town’s municipality and public works staff, and the bottom floor stayed as police headquarters as it had always been. “It’s a beautiful day,” she muttered, “The building seems very quiet on such a beautiful day. Not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse,” she mocked.

“What are we doing?” Nick asked.

Miss Lullaby studied the building. “This building has a lot of windows,” she said, “I’m sure it has a basement.”

Nick pointed to the building. “Somebody’s in there,” he said, “I see someone.”

“Police?”

“Or what’s left of them,” Nick said.

“What do you mean by that?” Miss Lullaby asked.

“Nobody has seen any police officers other than Officer Donavan and Officer Petrie.”

“How many police officers are in this town?” Miss Lullaby said while staring into the first floor of the building.

“Fifteen,” Nick answered, “Including the Chief and two detectives.”

“So, where are they now?”

Nick shrugged.

“Maybe we should go in and ask,” Miss Lullaby suggested.

Officer Donavan sat beside a large desk in the center of the precinct. One of the two piles of papers stacked unevenly, tipped over on the table, and covered his police special sitting next to the papers. He unburied the revolver and fumbled nervously, trying to load bullets into the cylinder. He raised his eyes to see Miss Lullaby and Nick Star standing before him. He called over his shoulder, "Petrie!” And once again, "Officer Petrie!"

The Jail corridor door opened and the Officer came out, his face covered with the surprise of seeing Nick Star. He held his revolver out of its holster. "Yes?" he said.

“Look who just walked in,” Donavan smirked.