Mike Who?

“Guys! You better take a look at this!” Even though the discovery of a human skull was not something he was particularly happy about, David managed to pull himself together this time. This adventure started to get weirder and weirder and he could not allow himself to fall into one of his dementias, every time something unnerving happened. Still, he could feel the need to give orders and have a look out for Tangos rising inside of him. ‘Get a grip!’, he thought to himself and stood up, to give his companions a better look at what he had unearthed. “I guess we can be fairly certain that the fire claimed a victim after all”, the doctor remarked sharply. “Don’t forget the void on the wall. Something was definitely between the heat source and the concrete at the time of the blast.” Ian had not forgotten the strange shape on the wall and decided to take a closer look. “I’ll just be a sec.”, he said and with a giant leap he jumped to the balcony on top of them, just next to the mark. While the three others were still looking at the skull, wondering about the extreme temperature it would take to fuse the remains with the concrete, the front door opened and the guard stepped inside. He was having a smoke, but when he saw David he threw it away and thought it best to put on his mask again. He certainly didn’t need another one of the young man’s insults. Ruthven smiled at the sight of the cigarette. He was a lobbyist for the major tobacco companies, and even though it was not as much fun watching a vampire using his product – they could not get cancer after all – he enjoyed that his industry was still going strong despite the recent bans on smoking. “Well I guess that settles it! There was definitely a person where the void is!” Ian was bending over the railing of the balcony holding half of a boot, which looked like it was salvaged out of a burnt shoe factory. “It was probably one of us, there is nothing left, not even a tiny piece of bone.”, Ruthven said with a shudder in his voice, thinking about Final Death. “That’s no way to go. Well let’s recap what we know so far.” With a hard thump, Ian jumped off the balcony and rejoined his teammates.

The group discussed what they had discovered and came to the conclusion that the fire could not have been of natural origin. The temperatures were too hot for a normal fire and the area of the fire was also perfectly round shaped. Natural fire was never this controllable. They also concluded that the two dead guys were probably Jonathan and whoever Mike had sent in as his replacement that day, since they found the remains of one human and one vampire. They shared their insights with the guard, who only added: “That fits. Mike would do anything to get away from work. Maybe the bastard is even involved in all of this. I wouldn’t put it past him. Here is his address if you want to check him out.” He handed them a piece of paper with a barely legible location scribbled on it.

It was only a short drive to the apartment building where Mike was living. When they arrived they thought it would be cautious to not alert the vampire too early to their presence. Ian broke open the door with a silent tug and they snuck up the stairs to the second floor landing. The doors looked all the same and on top of them was a small light bulb to illuminate the doorway. Except for one door on the left, where the bulb had been screwed out. As some vampires are very light sensitive, it was a good bet to start their investigation at this door. David had cowardly shifted with the shadows again and Victor kneeled in front of the door and tried to take a look through the mail slot. He attempted to open it very slowly, but as soon as he lowered his head towards the door he clumsily bumped into the metal mail cover. He opened it anyway and heard a sudden growling noise from behind the door. And sure enough, the first look he got was the broad and angry snout of a large dog drooling and snarling at the intruders. “Um, guys. I think he knows that we are here.”, said the doctor, and just as he did, the dog started to bark loudly. Seconds after a voice could be heard from the apartment, “Who-ho-ho’s there? Don’t come any closer if you hold your life dear.”