Chapter Text
The day was warm with a cooling breeze. The trees were fully shifted to reds and yellows, and leaves were falling. Students at Amity Park University were milling around the center courtyard as usual. Midterms were in full swing and most people were hurrying along while sipping at coffees, noses in notebooks and note cards, desperate for the end of exams and the start of a two week-long fall break. Most students were so absorbed in last minute studying and rushing to class, that they didn’t even notice they were walking past an active crime scene.
The science building was a “U” shaped building renovated from the early 80’s, with entrances on either end of the “U”. The crime scene tape was blocking one entrance and front hallway. Crime scene investigators had to take turns one or two at a time in the small computer lab right next to the exit where a body was found by cleaning staff at around five that morning. The officers were milling in the area just inside the doors redirecting people around their perimeter.
The detective shook his head as an officer had to direct yet another student to the other entrance to the science building. “Do you not see the crime scene tape? Jesus, it’s like 40 feet to the other door.”
“This door is closer to the stairs. Come on, man, I’m already running late.”
“Get out of here, kid, or we’ll drag your ass to the station for interfering with a police investigation.” The student finally heaved a great sigh and stomped to the other door.
“Unbelievable.” The detective said to the officer incredulously. “It’s like they don’t even care one of their classmates was murdered.”
The officer shrugged. “They wouldn’t be so blasé about it if they knew how he died.”
They stood in silence a moment as the door to their right opened and a gurney came through, loaded with a zipped-up body bag. As they rolled it through the short stretch of hall out the front door, several students paused to watch a moment, then scurried on. Only a few stuck around any longer. A young man with white hair and a white turtleneck under his Amity windbreaker caught the detective’s eye. He was looking at the gurney with wide eyes from behind the tape. The detective approached him. “Hey. You okay?”
“Y-yeah… that’s not… it’s not Professor Lancer, is it?”
“No, it’s a student,” The detective glanced at the gurney as the white haired student looked conflicted, “Why did you think it was the professor?”
“He uses that room for study hall. That’s where I was going before…” he gestured at the police tape.
“Do you have a number or contact information for Mr. Lancer?”
“Uh, yeah, hold on.” The student pulled out his phone and scrolled through it to find the information he needed. “Can I ask… how did it… happen?”
The detective sighed. “Stabbed,” he said vaguely.
Danny swallowed nervously.
The detective pulled out his notebook and jotted down the information Danny provided. “And what was your name?” he asked.
The student put out a hand for the detective to shake. “Danny.”
“Full name Danial?”
“Yeah. Last name Fenton.” The detective offered a grim smile.
“Well, looks like study hall is cancelled for today, Danny.”
“Yeah. I’ll email the professor and find out if he maybe knows and changed the study spot. He’s usually here by now. Thanks.”
“Danny!” Danny turned, and a young gothic woman had emerged from a classroom near the end of the hall, and was waving to Danny. He waved back, and started to turn away before the detective called to him.
“Before you go, Danny. The student’s name was Thomas Arnold per his student ID. You know him?”
Danny thought and then shrugged. “No. I don’t think so. If he’s also a junior we may share some classes, but I don’t remember the name at all, sorry.” The young woman approached, looking from the police tape, to the detective, to Danny, and looking concerned.
“It’s alright. Girlfriend?”
“Yeah. Her name is Sam. We usually meet up at the study hall.”
The detective handed Danny his card. “Call me if you come up with anything useful, yeah?”
“For sure, I will.”
The detective was distracted when the officer called from near the door, asking for his signature on something. He nodded to Danny and his new companion before he jogged away.
Danny put an arm around Sam’s shoulder, and they walked to the other door to leave the building. As they left, a young woman watched Danny leave from the corner of her eye.
She looked at the intricate tattoo on her hand and wrist. She stuffed her hands back in her pockets, and hoisted her bag higher up on her shoulder. “Valerie!” She turned. The person waving to her was a tall, willowy woman with dark wavy hair cascading down her back. Valerie waved back with a wide smile and walked over to meet her friend.
“Hey, Paulina.” The two embraced, and Paulina looped her arm through Valerie’s.
“Woah, what’s going on here?”
Valerie shrugged. “I guess someone died.”
“Ew, sad. Is it anyone we know?”
Valerie shrugged. “I haven’t been here very long. I don’t know anything.”
Paulina shivered. “Well I don’t wanna think about it.” She started down the hall to the available exit. “Let’s go to the Dome and get some food. I have some time before my next midterm.” Valerie agreed, and pulled the collar up on her jacket as Paulina pulled her out into the cold. They followed the flow of the crowd heading toward the huge dome shaped building that marked the center of campus. Students moved in and out of the buildings lining their path like clockwork, people were finishing tests and/or getting ready to take them. The trees that lined the right side of the path were crowded with students taking a break from all the stress. Many lounged against tree trunks or played Frisbee in the grass beyond.
Valerie watched the students for a moment, and her attention was recalled when Paulina grabbed her wrist and tugged her left hand up to look at it. “You got another tattoo? Holy shit.”
“Oh, yeah. It was…”
“Does your dad know?”
“No, and I’m avoiding the shit out of him til I graduate because of it.”
“Probably the better choice. I mean he almost disowned you over the other one and it was just a little puzzle piece.”
“I know! And its on the inside of my ankle, so it’s not like its super out there either.”
“This one reminds me of those… um, what are they called? The henna designs women sometimes get.”
“Really?” Valerie looked at the spiraling designs upon her hand. “I guess a little, huh?”
“Oh, you should add white ink to it.”
“What? Why?”
“Well I hear for some people it doesn’t show up, but you’re pretty dark skinned, so I bet it would look really pretty on you.”
“Well, thanks, but I don’t think that’s really my thing. Every part of it means something, and I think I’ll keep it the way it is.”
Paulina shrugged. They came upon the Dome, and Valerie held the door for Paulina. They passed through the first set of doors and sighed with relief as they were blasted by warm air. They both shed their coats and continued through the inner doors. Lining the left and right walls of the dome on two floors were many restaurant stalls, the far wall was the entrance to the two-story school bookstore. Paulina beelined for the escalator and the bagel shop once on the second floor. They ordered bagels, yogurt cups, and iced tea.
“I can ring these items together to count as meals on your meal plans if you want.” The girl said as she tapped her register screen.
“Sure,” Paulina said. “I still have like, seven meals this week. I need to use them up.” She rolled her eyes and smiled at the cashier. “I have the 18 meals a week plan. Turns out I eat off campus all the time and it’s way more than I need.”
“I get it. I have that plan, too. IDs please.” The cashier smiled.
Paulina handed over her ID and said, “Use mine for both. She’s not a student.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Valerie and Paulina got their tea and moved off to the left to wait for their food. “How is your online thing going?”
Valerie threw up devil horns and said, “I’m rockin’ it. Looks like I’ll graduate a year early, and if I do, Daddy says he’ll let me use the extra money to travel.”
“What? That’s so cool! I’m so jealous.”
Valerie loved spending time with Paulina. She was a relaxing presence, and still easy to talk to, even though they hardly saw one another. When they got their food, they found seats near the second floor entrance for the bookstore, and continued to chat about mundane things. Valerie’s dad was now dating a school teacher. Paulina’s abuela was angry at her because she refused to babysit her cousins for free.
Then suddenly, Valerie felt a low hum in her hand. She glanced down and saw part of the tattoo there shimmering. She knew Paulina couldn’t see this but it wasn’t Paulina she was worried about seeing it. She looked up as she covered her hand, and was surprised to see the white-haired man from earlier. Danny- he’d told the detective. She looked again at her hand. There was no mistake. A vampire was near-by, and in the same direction as Danny, but it couldn’t be Danny. Valerie had seen him leave the science building. It was midday outside. There was no way for him to get from the science building to this one without passing through direct sunlight. So, she looked around him, and saw, a few paces behind, a large man with a square jaw and a mohawk. He could possibly be a guest or an older student, but his eyes were trained on Danny, and the look on his face was predatory. Danny seemed unaware, and slipped into the student bookstore. As she feared he would, the large man moved after him.
Valerie stood suddenly, and Paulina seemed startled. “Oh, sorry.” Valerie pressed her hands together and looked contrite. “I’m so sorry. Girl, I totally forgot I told my dad I’d grab him a university hoodie.”
Paulina waved off the apology. “It’s fine. I have to get to my midterm for econ anyway.” Paulina gave Valerie a quick one armed hug, and ran off. Valerie disposed of their trash near the bookstore, and used the moment to study the tattoo.
She followed it, trotting through the bookstore, adjusting her course as she glanced at the tattoo, and tried to look like a normal shopper. Eventually she came to a door that led to a back exit, and followed it. Halfway down the stairs, her path told her to go through a door labeled employees only, and she crept through it slowly. Just inside she could hear grunting and thudding from further down the way.
She adjusted the strap on her bag so it hung through her beltloops as instead of off her shoulder. She reached in, and wrapped her hand around the handle of a solid silver knife. She crept down the short hall and came upon the two men very quickly.
Up close, Valerie could see that the man was truly giant. Valerie guessed Danny stood somewhere from 5’10” to 5’11” and yet the large man had Danny by the shirt front, pinned to the wall almost three feet off the ground. Danny seemed determined. He gripped the man’s wrist and kicked out at the giant’s face. He made contact, and to Valerie’s surprise, the giant actually staggered, and lost his grip. Danny dropped to the ground, and kicked out again at the giant’s knee. He stepped out of range though, then brought his foot down on Danny’s chest. Danny cried out as the air was driven from his lungs. He gripped the boot and struggled to try to push it off.
Valerie took a running leap off a janitor’s cart behind the giant. She caught hold of him by the mohawk, and planted her feet on his back. The giant cried out this time and staggered again as Valerie drew her knife. He twisted, and Valerie drove her knife into his shoulder to steady herself. He cried out again, and blue flames burst forth from the knife. Valerie tried to drive it in further, cursing the giant’s size. Any other vampire would be dead by now. The giant screamed. He reached over his shoulder and seized a handful of her hair. He pitched her back down the hall. Valerie rolled on impact and staggered back up to her feet. The vampire gripped the blade in his shoulder, and his hand was burned also. He looked at his burn, then turned to Valerie, even as she reached into her bag again for a different tool.
Behind the giant, Danny coughed, and struggled to his feet. Before Valerie could make a move, the giant suddenly moved at super- human speed, and he was suddenly behind her. Valerie ducked, and felt the air whoosh through her hair as his claws slammed into the wall beside her. She moved clockwise, pivoting on her heel and caught him in the side with a fist. There was a blue flash and smoke, and he leapt back from her, clutching his side. Valerie smirked, and took another fighting stance. The giant sneered at her, and the silver rings on her fingers.
Behind her, Danny was finally getting to his feet. “What!?” he stared at Valerie, and at the giant.
“Listen, you need to get out of here,” Valerie said to him. “I’m going to do what I can to knock this guy down, then you need to make a run for it, alright?”
“Are you now, Prey?” the giant laughed. “A few lucky shots and you suddenly think I’m an easy kill?”
“Course not.” In a flash, Valerie swept the giant’s legs and reclaimed her knife from his shoulder as he hit the ground. The giant gripped his shoulder in pain, and Valerie turned to Danny. “Run! Now!” Danny took a running leap over the Giant and then paused and looked back at Valerie. “Go!”
Danny looked behind him toward the door, and then back to Valerie. “I can’t leave you here.”
“Yes, you can. Go!”
“No, I mean… look, I’m not…” The giant let out a roar of rage and charged after Danny.
“No!” Valerie moved after him, and the giant whipped around, and suddenly had her by the neck against the wall. Valerie tried to throw another punch and the giant grabbed her forearm and slammed it against the wall also. He had her.
Danny lunged for the giant, and the giant kicked at him, sending him sprawling again. The giant gripped Valerie’s hair and pulled her head back to expose her throat. Danny was running back toward them. “No!”
Valerie squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself. The giant opened his mouth and long fangs pierced Valerie’s neck. She felt a burning feeling around the bite, and from there, she was flooded with a tingling numbness. No sooner had she been bitten, however than she was released. “What is this!?” The giant yelled as he staggered back. He was sputtering and choking. “Disgusting! What are you?”
Valerie was leaning against the wall. Her body was shutting down as the venom spread. She laughed. “Not something you care for, huh?”
The giant was clutching his throat. He growled, and said, “I can still tear you apart with my claws.” Valerie tried to push herself back up the wall. Her grip failed and she slipped to the floor. Her knife clattered from her hand. She gritted her teeth.
The giant advanced on her again. His face was pure rage, and Valerie didn’t have the strength left to do more than watch as those sharp claws reached for her. Then she was looking at Danny’s back. He’d thrown off his jacket and used it to catch the giant’s arm. He pulled, yanking the giant down toward himself and caught him with an uppercut that was accompanied by a loud crack.
The giant reared back, and Valerie lifted her tattooed hand toward him.
“Mi ligas vin.” A new section of her tattoo shone a bright red.
The giant stumbled back as his arms snapped to his sides, and Danny moved with the same inhuman speed the giant had. He kicked the cleaning cart into the giant’s legs and sent him sprawling on his back.
Then, just as quickly, he picked Valerie up, and ran.
“You…!” Valerie stared at Danny wide eyed. His eyes- she was sure they were green or blue before- were red, and his canines had elongated into sharp fangs. She shoved weakly at his chest.
“Stop struggling. I’ll drop you.”
“You’re a vampire! Let me go!” she looked at her tattoo. It was still reacting to the giant, but not Danny. “What are you!?”
Danny burst back into the stairway, and Valerie glanced back over his shoulder. The giant was already thrashing around against the spell, and it wouldn’t last long since it was cast when Valerie was so weak. “Get us outside.” She said urgently. Danny nodded and headed down the stairs to the exit instead of back into the bookstore. He looked around briefly, and stepped out into the sunlight. He slowed his walk once he was a distance from the building.
“What was that spell thing you did?”
Feeling was returning to Valerie’s extremities as Danny set her down on a bench a little way from the Dome. He rubbed his arm where he’d hit it before, and looked back at her. She regarded him suspiciously. Indeed, his eyes were again green, and his teeth… they were a little longer than normal teeth for sure, but definitely not fangs.
“What the hell was that guy?” Danny stood with his hand on his hips, looking back toward the dome. “Goddamn it, I left my sociology notecards in there…”
“What are you?” Valerie demanded.
“I… am… a student. Danny. Fenton.” He held out a hand to her.
She hesitated.
He dropped his hand. “Oh, come on. Surely you can at least tell that I don’t mean any harm, right?”
Valerie lifted and flexed her hands, testing her returned strength. “Valerie...Gray.”
Danny looked relieved. “Valerie.” He frowned. “Valerie Gray?” He ran a hand through his hair. “I know that name.”
She looked him up and down. “You went to Amity high?”
“Yeah.”
“So did I. I left partway through freshman year. Because My mom died.”
Danny’s eyes widened in recognition. “Oh! I…” He looked very embarrassed. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s… fine. Now answer my question the right way. What are you?”
Danny crossed his arms, looking uncomfortable. “A Vampire. But only half.”
“What does that mean? I didn’t think Vampires could reproduce with humans.”
“They can’t. I was turned when I was fourteen.” He looked at his hand, and as he turned his hand over, his nails turned to claws and his green eyes went red. He sat next to Valerie, and pulled the collar down on his turtle neck so she could see puncture scars from an old bite. Then he glanced back at the Dome. “Listen, I have one last mid-term in about fifteen minutes and then I’m done ‘til end of break.”
Valerie cocked an eyebrow. “We did leave a very pissed off Vampire in a crowded building. You don’t think we should maybe do something about that?”
Danny looked again toward the Dome. “I think he was following me. He was skulking around when I got to the Dome for lunch with my girlfriend. I know he clocked me as a Vamp, and he started following me. I tried to get outside so I could lose him again, but…”
“He caught you in the back hallway.”
Danny shrugged. “I underestimated him.”
“Well, can’t fault you there,” Valerie stretched, and stood up. “But still, I’m going to go back. And I’m going to be ready this time.”
“Are you kidding? He kicked both our asses.”
“He only got me because I thought I had to protect a civilian. A civilian that kept doing the opposite of what I told him and getting in the way.”
Danny shrugged, “Well, sorry, but,” Valerie’s tattoo reacted again, and at the same time, Danny shivered and looked toward the Dome. Valerie followed his gaze, and there, the skulker giant was standing in the shade at the very base of the outer wall. Before their eyes, and through the crowd spilling in and out of the Dome, he turned to a fine mist, and melted into the shadow.
“Great.” Valerie sighed.
“Well, that takes care of that for now.”
Valerie scoffed and glared at Danny, hands on hips. “How so? He’s still out there somewhere you idiot. And if he attacked you- another vampire- he may be trying to take over this campus if he sees it as your territory. We need to hunt him down, and make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone. Hell, for all we know he may be the one who killed that guy from earlier.” Danny looked at his watch, and turned to walk away. “Hey! I’m talking to you.”
“Yeah, and I said I still have one last mid-term. Now in a little over five minutes.”
“You really aren’t going to prioritize this?”
“Nope. Not til after I get through this organic chemistry exam. For the next hour, all I’m worrying about are NMR spectrographs and chemical nomenclature.
Valerie shook her head incredulously. She stopped and turned to leave. “Unbelievable. Well, I’m going to go look for-.”
“No,” Danny caught Valerie by the arm. “Look… just the hour. Give me the hour to take this test, and then I’ll go with you. It’s dangerous to go alone.”
“I can handle myself.”
“Maybe. Against a normal vampire. But if this guy’s is the one who killed that person in the science building, you may not be able to take him.” Danny sighed as Valerie crossed her arms and reluctantly continued to walk beside Danny toward his classroom. “I did know the guy who died. He’s a TA for my friend’s class and a magic user. Like you. He knew how to protect himself from vampires.” Valerie felt a shiver go down her spine.
She glanced back toward the dome. She had a hard time getting her tattoo to track vampires when they turned to animals or mists. She didn’t really have a choice here. She didn’t have much to go on anyway.
“Danny…” She started.
“Look, I want to deal this as much as you do. I swear. There’s a coffee shop across from the building where I’ll be taking my test. Wait for me there.”
Valerie groaned. “Fine. See you in an hour.”
Danny looked relieved. He smiled as he backpedaled toward the building with a wave. Valerie gave her own half smile, and waved him off.
As soon as he was out of sight, Valerie moved away from the coffee shop back toward the main science building. She found her way back to the police line and found it deserted. She glanced up toward the security cameras, and realized their wires were hanging, disconnected from the rest of the system. Fat chance it caught the murderer then. She looked around, and then slipped under the line and into the room.
The first thing she noticed was a lack of blood. She was sure the detective had said it was a stabbing, but the room was clear of any bloodshed. There was evidence of a struggle, however. Overturned chairs, smashed tables, broken shelves and scattered books.
It wasn’t a large room to begin with. Five computers lined one wall, and two huge cabinets stood on either side of the door. They were built into the wall, and stretched from ceiling to floor. Valerie pulled gloves from her bag and picked through the room carefully. The police and crime scene investigators had been through already, sure, but they could always come back.
She could only hope the police didn’t take away anything she may need to track down the vampire responsible. As it was, Valerie raised her left hand, peeled back her glove for a moment and whispered, “Lumo en la mallumo.”
A green-blue light shimmered through the tattoo. “So, a vampire was definitely here recently,” She muttered. She replaced her glove. He hoped it wasn’t picking up on Danny. She dropped the spell and looked around more thoroughly. Flipping through the notebooks on the desk, Valerie found mostly half-graded lab books. Among them, however, she found one that was different. In the middle of the stack, it was annotated is strange places, and strangely, “This is more than one set of handwriting in the margin,” she whispered. One set likely belonged to whoever did the grading in the other notebooks. She flipped back and forth in the notebook a moment, and was unable make heads nor tales of most of the messages. She assumed it must be coded. She took the notebook and tucked it away in her bag. She’d have to try decoding it later.
Valerie continued to look around carefully. Near the door, she found what looked like a pendant. It was oddly shaped- like an x, and when Valerie held it up to the light, it was slightly translucient. Black in the shade, and red in the light. Upon one end, there was a symbol she recognized. Two lines that ran parallel, another cutting through both diagonally and a circle at one end of the lines. It was a magical symbol, she was sure, but she couldn’t remember exactly what it meant. She tucked this away also, and was startled by a noise just outside the door. Someone was outside, fumbling with the lock to get inside.
Valerie backed away from the door, looking around for an alternative exit. Seeing none, she quickly stood behind the door on the side with the hinges. She pulled the huge cabinet door open and stood behind it. When the door opened, it blocked her from view as the two doors made two walls around her.
The people who entered were both women. “Tsk… They left it unlocked. How irresponsible can you get? Look at this, and anyone can just walk in here.”
“Well, I mean, yeah, but they already went through it all, right? Maybe they don’t need to lock it up.”
“Nah, my uncle died and we weren’t allowed in his apartment for like a week while they were going through stuff. They had to make sure that every team had a chance to look at the scene undisturbed. It turned out he died of a heart attack, but it goes to show how seriously they take that stuff, you know?”
“Well, then why are we allowed in here? Shouldn’t we not… you know? We can just buy another centrifuge right? Why do we need this one? Its creepy standing where a dead body was just a couple hours ago.” The speaker dropped her voice to a whisper. “It’s gotta be like, bad luck, right?”
“Well, supposedly,” there was a pause, and Valerie could imagine her looking around before leaning in conspiratorially, “The dead kid is supposedly related to someone at city hall. Also, he hung out with some weirdos for sure. I heard some guys who work maintenance saying they wouldn’t be surprised if it was like, a drug deal gone south or something. And if that’s the case…” she trailed off. There was a tinkling of glass and a shuffling of papers. Then the cabinet door on the other side of the door opened.
“I can’t carry that. You do it.”
“No, that’s way too heavy. Let’s just take this stuff, and we can send Mike back.”
“So…” the girl hesitated. “what? You think it’s being covered up by this… whoever in government? Wouldn’t they want the opposite? If a relative of someone important was killed, you’d think campus would be crawling with cops trying to find out who did it.”
“Unless the details coming out would make it embarrassing.”
“That’s crazy.”
The women’s voices were fading. Valerie waited a moment after they left, then carefully crept out from her hiding spot. She slipped out the door, and watched the girls walking away. One blonde, one a redhead with an a-cut bob. Valerie stuffed her gloves back in her pocket as she tossed her hair and moved off in the opposite direction. She checked her watch. Danny would be out of class in about fifteen minutes. She made her way back to the coffee shop, and ordered a coffee for her wait and a drink for Danny when he got there.