Chapter 37: The Witch Vampire

“Goddamn it,” I muttered as I stared down at the field of bodies.

Or what was left of them.

The corpses were blackened beyond recognition, their flesh burned and cracked like charcoal. Some of them were barely more than shapes now, twisted and frozen in the positions they died in.

I crouched beside one of them and studied it carefully.

Then I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. I tapped one out, placed it between my lips, and brought out a lighter from my back pocket.

The flame flickered in the cold air before the cigarette caught.

I inhaled slowly.

Behind me, I heard footsteps approaching.

“Captain, you asked for me?”

I didn’t turn around immediately.

Instead, I exhaled a long stream of smoke into the air before speaking.

“Yeah.”

I gestured toward the field with the cigarette between my fingers.

“What do you think about this mess right here?”

My lieutenant stepped forward and looked around at the bodies scattered across the ground. He examined them for a moment, then shrugged slightly.

“It’s just burnt corpses, sir,” he said. “We don’t need to waste time on this.”

I finally turned to face him.

“It’s not just burnt corpses,” I said calmly.

“They’re decapitated burnt corpses.”

That made him pause.

He looked back at the bodies again, this time paying closer attention.

“…You really think a vampire did this?”

“Yes.”

I took another slow drag from the cigarette.

“But not just any vampire.”

“This one is old.”

“And different.”

He frowned slightly.

“What makes you say that?”

I gestured toward the scorched ground around us.

“The vampire killed them in such an isolated place,” I explained. “He probably didn’t need to go through the trouble of getting gasoline and setting them on fire.”

“But he did.”

I flicked some ash off the cigarette.

“That means he didn’t use gasoline.”

“He did it with his mind.”

My lieutenant’s eyes narrowed.

“…You’re saying the fire was conjured.”

I nodded once.

“That makes him a witch too.”

For a moment neither of us spoke.

The wind moved quietly across the field of ashes.

Then my lieutenant looked at me again.

“…You think it’s Emmanuel?”

“That’s what we have to find out.”

I raised my hand and signaled to the boys waiting in the truck.

The back door opened and two of them stepped out, dragging someone between them. Emmanuel’s wrists were bound loosely—not because ropes could truly hold him, but because it made the point clear.

They brought him over and stopped a few feet in front of me before returning to the vehicle without a word.

Emmanuel looked annoyed more than anything.

“Captain… is this really necessary?” he began.

I ignored the tone and nodded toward the field of charred bodies.

“What do you know about this, Emma?”

He turned and looked across the field. His eyes moved slowly from corpse to corpse, studying the damage.

After a moment he shook his head.

“That’s not me,” he said calmly. “I just arrived in Abuja two days ago. And these corpses look like they’ve been like this for days… maybe even weeks.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“But this was done by a witch–vampire.”

Emmanuel shrugged slightly.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, Cap. It isn’t me.”

I didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, I reached into my pocket and pulled out another cigarette. I placed it between my lips but didn’t light it.

I simply stared at him.

Emmanuel sighed, already understanding what I meant.

He focused his eyes on the cigarette.

A second later—

Fwoosh.

The tip ignited on its own.

My lieutenant beside me jumped slightly, clearly not expecting that.

I took a slow drag and exhaled.

“I’m finding it hard to believe you now, Emma.”

Emmanuel raised his hands slightly in frustration.

“Come on, Cap. You told me to do it.”

I took a long puff before speaking again.

“What are you doing in Abuja anyway?”

“Just came to see how much the city has changed.”

I stared at him.

“Don’t lie to me, Emma.”

He hesitated for a moment, then sighed.

“Fine.”

“I came for Juliet.”

“I was told she was here.”

My eyes narrowed slightly.

“So Juliet is in Abuja.”

Emmanuel nodded quickly.

“But she didn’t do this. She wouldn’t.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Because she’s not a killer.”

I let out a quiet laugh.

“Wasn’t she responsible for the deaths of her friends?” I said. “Wasn’t that the reason her father banished her?”

Emmanuel’s jaw tightened.

“This is different though.”

“Whatever you say.”

For a moment the only sound was the wind moving across the burnt field.

Then Emmanuel shifted his weight impatiently.

“Cap, I really need to get going. I have someone to find.”

I tilted my head slightly.

“You mean your cousin.”

His face changed instantly.

“That’s nobody’s business, Cap.”

My expression hardened.

“You better watch your mouth,” I said coldly. “Or I won’t let you leave anymore.”

“But I didn’t do anything wrong.”

I took another drag from the cigarette.

“I caught you drunk and feeding on a hooker,” I reminded him. “If I hadn’t stepped in, you would’ve ripped her head off.”

“But I didn’t.”

“Thanks to me.”

I stepped a little closer to him.

“Now if you want my help,” I said quietly, “you’re going to have to help me.”

Emmanuel’s eyes narrowed.

“What if I just run off?”

I smiled faintly.

“Then you risk the wrath of the hunters on your back.”

He shrugged.

“Then I’ll just kill every one of you.”

I leaned in slightly, my voice calm.

“Why don’t you try it.”

“I dare you.”

“And then live with the consequences.”

I tapped ash from the cigarette.

“After a month… you’d rip your own heart out yourself.”

Emmanuel stared at me for a long moment.

He knew I wasn’t bluffing.

Finally, his shoulders dropped slightly.

Defeated.

He said nothing.

“Now who told you Juliet was here?”

“Tunde.”

“Who’s that?”

“Her chaperone.”

“Why was she here?”

He didn’t reply.

“Emma… let’s not do this, alright?”

He hesitated, then reluctantly answered. “To find the Dhampir.”

“The one destined to be the end of the vampiric race?”

“Precisely.”

I took a slow drag from my cigarette before continuing.

“Do you know a high-profile pastor lost his daughter? She’s been missing for a while now. When detectives asked her friends where she was the day she disappeared, none of them could remember. Not her dad. Not her church members—the ones she usually goes on evangelism with. Nothing.”

I flicked ash to the ground.

“Isn’t that weird?”

Emma stayed silent.

“And only vampires like you can do something like that. Since you just got into town, it can’t be you.” I leaned closer. “So that leaves Juliet.”

“I need to talk to her.”

“But I don’t know where she is,” he said.

I stepped closer and wrapped an arm around his neck like we were old friends.

“Seems like we’re partnering up.”

“I’m sorry, Cap,” he replied, shaking his head. “But I’m not going to help you capture my cousin.”

I studied him for a moment.

Then I cut the rope binding his hands.

“You’re free to leave.”

He looked surprised. Suspicious.

Within seconds, he vanished.

The lieutenant beside me stepped forward. “Captain, that was our only lead.”

I smirked and tapped the side of my neck.

“Relax. I placed a tracker sticker on him.”

I watched the empty road where he’d disappeared.

“Now we can find him wherever he goes.”