Alex went into the police department ,following Rebecca. “I have a couple guys I can call on if shit hits the fan, but it's mostly just me,” she said. She turned on an electric kettle. “Although Dr. Smith has a clinic in the other half of the building.” She made two cups of instant coffee, and handed him one. “So I heard you're a hunter. What's the meanest thing you killed?” She asked, leaning in, clearly curious.

  Alex skimmed over his memories, trying not to recall the exact details. “Well there was some sort of basilisk, but with more tentacles. It turned every thing in twenty feet of it to stone. Skin was tough enough that bullets didn't do anything.”

  “Shit, what did you do?”

  “I put on all my protective equipment, and hit it with my motorcycle. I bailed out just before, and got pretty banged up. The bike turned to stone when it got close, and brained the thing. Didn't stop the domain though. Had to put up a fence with a bunch of warnings on it. How about you, gotten anything nasty through here?”

  “Had a few crazies come through, but they mostly run after a warning shot. We had some raiders once, but Julius handled them. I think they're fishermen now or something. Worst has got to have been this giant worm that burrowed through the ground, real Tremors shit. Philip had to help with that. Did something to freeze it in place, and I chucked a grenade in its mouth.”

  “Wait. Philip knows how to do magic?” Alex asked surprised.

  “Didn't Julius tell you, he knows. Philip explained he was going to be working on some juju, Julius vouched for him. I told him as long as it didn't hurt anyone it was fine. He's helped when trouble comes round, like the worm. Got some deal with Dr. Smith to. Philip visits him a lot, gave him a magic fridge or something. People in town like him. Say that he helps keep the bad stuff away, even if he is a little weird.”

  “Weird how?” Alex wondered what Julius was up to, not telling him about Philip.

  “Oh, you know. The eyepatch, always around at all hours, he had some extra locks on his basement. I asked him about those. He says it's so people don't mess with something and hurt themselves. It's not like there ever been any trouble, no babies disappearing at night.” Alex couldn't help but want to investigate. Phillip had always been odd.

  “Well this has been nice Rebecca. ** ******** ******* * ****** ***** *** *******. Do you know if Dr. Smith is in?” Alex ignored the burst of static he heard, not wanting to give away his lie.

  “I think he should be in the clinic now. See you around. Do you know how long you're staying?”

  “Probably a few days, Julius will be looking for something to buy.”

  “Well when you're feeling better we should have dinner, maybe tomorrow?” She asked smiling.

  “Sure, I would like that,” He replied, grinning back.

  Alex made his exit, heading around the building, and entering a refurbished jail. A man in his forties sat at a desk writing. He looked up, and saw Alex. “Are you new in town?” He asked.

  “I'm Julius' brother. Are you Dr. Smith?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “That I am, what would be the issue? I can do dental and general practice.”

  “Actually I'm here about Philip.”

  “What about Philip?” Dr. Smith asked, looking a little nervous.

  “We're old friends, and I heard you two had some sort of deal. He made you a magic fridge or something. I was wondering if I could see it.” If something was going on the doctor would be involved, Alex figured.

  “Sure it's just in the back room. I needed it to keep medicines and such cold.”

  He followed Dr. Smith to the back room, and saw the tall fridge sized wooden box. He reached out a hand and touched it. “It's warm,” he remarked

  “It moves heat to the outside.”

  “I don't see any magic,” Alex said, and opened the fridge. Dr. Smith rushed a little to stop him, but it was too late. “Ah, there it is, on the inside,” he spoke casually. He eyed the contents of the fridge, seeing that among the various medicine was a dozen bags of blood. “That seems like a lot of blood?” He questioned innocently. When they had woken up Philip had been covered in blood. Did this have something to do with that?

  “Not really, I like to be prepared for an emergency. Part of most peoples payment is I take a little blood.”

  “Still though, surely you would soon have enough.”

  “** **** ***** ***** *****. So I need to replace it fairly often. It's kind of medical insurance for the folk, in case anyone gets hurt.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said it's kind of like insurance.”

  “No, before that.” The not being able to hear lies was useful, but he felt like making people repeat their lies was too obvious.

  “That blood only lasts three weeks.”

  “Oh, that's interesting. I might ask him to do a smaller box for myself, so I can keep food longer. How much did it cost?”

  “* ******** ** **** *****” Dr. Smith lied.

  “Sorry could you repeat that. Maybe I should get my hearing checked after all.” Alex chuckled.

  “A lifetime of free visits.”

  “Right, not bad. Maybe Julius wants some of them to sell. I should get going though.” Alex made his exit convinced of one thing. Philip was buying peoples blood from the doctor. He had never heard of any vampires, and he wondered exactly how they worked. Not everything acted like they had been depicted in pop culture, but some things existed whose roots were solely in fiction. Maybe they didn't burst into flames in the sun, or Philip had been turned after they had split up with him. The other option was Philip was doing something heinous with the blood, voodoo or the like. Maybe everyone in the town was bound under mind control using their blood, and so was Julius.

  Alex went to the general store. He found out that Julius had gone to visit Philip, and bring him some gifts that were in a plain wooden box. He saw several motorcycles outside the store, and inquired how much one cost. Twenty-one Oxycotin lighter, Alex drove off toward fifth street in a hurry. Julius was wrapped up in this somehow, probably selling Philip something he wanted. If Philip had everything he wanted, and didn't want to pay up Julius could be in danger.

  He pulled up next to the cart, and grabbed his shotgun from where it was racked on the side of the cart. Alex found his dufflebag, and rummaged through the ammo pouch. He pulled out a ziplock bag full of specialty bullets he had put together, while he had been laid up for a month on bedrest. He looked at the labels, and grabbed the two shotgun shells labeled 'Vampire, Undead, Werewolves, Demons?'. They were full of tiny silver crosses he had a priest bless, and hopefully would have some effect. Past the obvious effect of turning portions of bodies into red mist. He holstered the loaded shotgun on his hip casually, and knocked on the door. He waited, and knocked again, but no one came. Testing the door he found it unlocked, and entered. “Hello?” He called out, but no one replied. He went through the house clearing each room, and then went to the basement door. It had two additional locks, and Alex considered what to do. Maybe they had just gone for a walk. It could be Alex was under some huge misunderstanding. He heard a short scream from the basement that sounded like Julius.

  Alex took out his bump key, and slammed it through the locks with the butt of his shotgun. He opened the door, and raced down the stairs. Occult symbols painted in blood covered the walls, and the whole room was lit with an eerie red glow. In the center of the room was a glowing portal slowing leaking blood onto the floor. Philip stood naked, covered in fresh blood. He had Julius by the shoulders, and was speaking quietly to him. He had no eyepatch, and dozens of tiny snakes were sticking out of the sockets. They flailed madly, and tried to bite Julius. Philip who had been with them in the beginning, covered in blood attacking Julius, with snakes for an eye. One, two, three. Alex took three long steps up to Philip, and stuck the barrel against his head. “You're out,” he whispered, and squeezed the trigger.