Page 27 of Burn Falls

“You’re going to end up like your partner,” the second voice said, laughing and nudging his head toward the downed officer.

“Backup will be here—”

“You’ll be dead before they arrive,” second voice chuckled again.

I watched as the group of men each pulled guns from their waists, and the moment I heard the click of a gun cocking, I went into action before I thought of the consequences, snapping each one’s neck. It took three-seconds to take them down, and then I turned toward the cop. He was shaking, clenching his gun in my direction.

“Fre … Freeze,” he stuttered.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

He looked at the dead bodies and then back up to meet my dark eyes. “H … How … How’d you …?”

I told him the truth, knowing I’d compel him to forget I was even here in a few seconds. “I’m a vampire.”

He blinked. “A vampire? How are you—”

I smirked. “That’s a long story we don’t have time for.”

“Vampires aren’t real.”

I moved to him and gently forced him to lower his gun. “They are.”

“That’s … That’s so fucking cool.”

I was just about to make him stare into my eyes when his statement stopped me. Usually, people were scared. They always assumed they could outrun me and then I’d have to chase them, causing more fear because they thought they’d be my next victim when, in reality, I was only stopping them from running away to make them forget they knew the truth.

“Cool?” I asked.

He smiled. “Yeah. You’re super strong and fast and will live forever.”

I knew I wouldn’t. Eventually, Renzo would catch up to me and rip my heart from my chest. “Let me guess. You want me to turn you?”

After I used compulsion on people to get them to calm down (usually the women I slept with), they would beg for me to turn them because they wanted to become a vampire too before I compelled them to forget I was a vampire. Humans didn’t realize what it actually entailed. I hadn’t seen daylight in almost seventy-five years, I could never make a city my forever home, I’d never have a family, and I could never get close with a human because, eventually, I’d have to watch them die.

In short, I was living a nightmare.

“No,” the young cop stated. “I want you to help me.”

It was my turn to blink. “Help you?”

The sirens were just around the corner. “Working the streets aren’t safe. I would have died tonight if it wasn’t for you, and my wife is pregnant with our first child.”

“You’re a rookie,” my gaze lowered to his name on his chest, “Officer Ellwood?”

“Second month on the job.” His green eyes lit up.

Police cars skidded to a stop, and before I could make him forget, I ran away.

When I woke the next evening, I knew I needed to find Officer Ellwood. I wasn’t sure what would happen—whathadhappened while I was sleeping the day away. Did he tell everyone that there was a vampire in town? Did people believe him? What was his cover story about the five dead men whose necks I snapped? I’d never left someone uncompelled, but the moment he told me he was going to be a father, my world stopped. It always did when I saw children or pregnant women because it would remind me of Mary and what I almost had.

And what I’d lost.

Once I made it to the hospital, I rummaged in the break room, searching for a local newspaper. I flipped through it, not seeing any story about a vampire, but there was one about the rookie cop who was the sole survivor in a gang attack in the city.

The story stated that Officer Ellwood and his partner, Officer Roth, engaged in a physical altercation that resulted in the death of everyone except Officer Ellwood. It concluded that the investigation was still underway.

I read the story again to make certain there was nothing about me. Was he serious the night before when he’d asked me to help him? How would I help a cop? Take down every bad guy in the city and potentially out myself? Granted, there was always compulsion, but if I wanted to fight crime, I would have become a cop and not a doctor.