I Know

There was a loud 'thump' and a muffled curse. A dark shadow lifted of the ground and swiftly walked out of the alleyway. As the shadow walked, rats scuttled about its feet. It slowly stalked out to the more populated sidewalk and came up behind a young woman. It wrapped its arms around her and whispered, "You should be more careful. There are vampires in the alley tonight!"

Laughing, the dark figure lowered its head and bit the young woman's neck. She dropped open her mouth and gasped, her face a picture of terror, before her eyes slipped close and she dropped to the ground. The figure looked at the fresh corpse and sneered.

"Weakling…"

***

Zane Noir was a very tolerant man. He also appreciated life's little gifts. However, he did not appreciate being woke up by the sun hitting his face at the crack of dawn after he had had a long night. Scowling and already in a bad mood, Zane stumbled into the bathroom yawning. He stripped off his clothes and turned on the shower.

Waiting for the water to heat up, he ran a comb through his black wavy hair. He turned and slipped into the shower, seemingly unaffected by the heat of the water. Minutes later, the shower turned off and Zane slid open the door. He stomped out of the shower, already dry, and through open the bathroom door. Quickly, Zane shifted over to his closet and pulled out some clean clothes. He got dressed and shook his head, feeling groggy. He sighed and walked out of his room, gliding down the hall and stairs.

"Maria! Maria! Is breakfast done yet?" called Zane.

A young looking maid popped her head around the corner and said "Not yet, Master Zane."

Zane made a little whine.

"Beside, didn't you just eat last night? And don't try to lie, I know you did!"

He rolled his eyes. 'Is that woman always going to mother me? I'm older than her mother!' He slid into a chair at the table in the kitchen and waited for Maria to finish cooking. Turning around, he gazed out the window and sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately…'Is it time?'

Maria de Gravis was a good maid and a good mother. She knew how to get bloodstains from silk and how to amuse a bored teenager. She knew how Master Zane liked his coffee and how to distract him from work. But she didn't know everything. For one, Maria had no idea what one was supposed to do when their charge was world-weary. Maria copied Master Zane's sigh and twisted her arm back to slide a plate of pancakes onto the table in front of Zane.

"Thank you, Maria. You always know how to make me happy." Zane said.

"Any time, Zane…" She trailed off.

The two sat at the table in silence for a bit, Zane eating and Maria thinking, until a loud knock sounded through the house. Maria jumped a little, startled, then rushed off to answer it.

"Yes?" She opened the door a crack to see a tall, tan man with chestnut hair that kept falling into his eyes.

"Miss de Gravis? I'm here to see a 'Zane Noir'?" The man introduced himself, "I'm Jasper Winters. This is a very important visit."

Maria still held a slight bit of doubt visible in the tenseness of her body, but she still opened the door wider. "Of course, please, come in." She stepped back away from the door and held it open for Jasper.

When he entered, she started walking down the hallway. "If you'll follow me Mr. Winters? I'm afraid that Master Zane is in the middle of breakfast but if you'll wait a little he'll be right with you," She opened a door and motioned him inside, "Just sit in here and I'll go see if Master Zane is finished yet."

As Maria quit talking, the door opened again and Zane was standing there holding the knob. "No need, Maria. Please leave us."

Maria nodded and left while Zane strutted over and sat across from the couch where Jasper had sat. Jasper held out his hand and introduced himself again, "Jasper Winters, Mr. Noir."

Zane looked at the outstretched hand and up at Jasper's face before lifting his hand and clasped it in the other's. "I've heard of you, detective. It's a pleasure."

Jasper slightly blushed in embarrassment. 'I wasn't expecting him to know me.' Clearing his throat, he withdrew his hand, "Yes, well, since you know what I am, I'm assuming you have some idea of why I'm here?"

Zane lifted a dark eyebrow and nodded. "You're investigating me?" He looked away and thought, 'Well, it doesn't matter how good he is, he'll never find the truth.'

"Mr. Noir-"

"Zane, please, we're all friends here."

Jasper nodded and started again, "Zane, then. Last night, there was a slight disturbance in the alleys of North Parkway and 2nd Street. The personnel of that area all say that you frequent their businesses and were, indeed, there again last night."

Zane looked at the detective and tilted his head in positive. "Yes, I was, but I don't see how that warrants and investigation." 'North Parkway and 2nd Street? Is that where I was last night? No wonder I woke with a nasty feeling, the kind of things people do there...'

The detective flicked his hair out of his eyes and elaborated. "Janis Beatrik, deceased. Her corpse was found fifteen feet away from the intersection of North Parkway and 2nd Street. We would like to know if you know anything about it."

He handed a file to Zane and in turn Zane raised an eyebrow as if to say 'We?'

"The police squad."

Zane flipped through the file and mumbled as he read. "Janis Beatrik…North Parkway…No sign of struggle…Dead thirteen hours…Autopsy not yet finalized…I must say that this is interesting. I've never heard of, uh, Janis?" Jasper nodded. "I'm sorry, detective, but I don't know anything about this death."

'I was hoping I could get through this without having to tell him this part! Looks like I have to come up with a new plan.' The detective placed the file on the coffee table and sighed. "Zane, the truth of the matter is, you're a suspect in a homicide case."

The other man's forehead crinkled in confusion. "But I thought the file said the autopsy hadn't been finalized yet? How can there be any suspects if they don't even know if it is a homicide."

Clicks echoed in the room as Jasper put the first file back in his briefcase and pulled out a second, thicker file. "That file was fake, a sort of lure if you will. This is the real file." He said handing it to Zane.

The other man took it and flipped through it looking for the cause of death. 'Damn it! It says blood loss! Calm down, Zane. You can fix this.'

"There are only three suspects! And it still says no sign of struggle. How can that be homicide?" He asked.

"All the other evidence leads in that direction."

"Okay, three suspects? Who are the other two?"

Jasper thought about it, trying to remember. "An ex-boyfriend and her baby's father."

Zane almost busted out laughing but held it in knowing that it could put him under more speculation. "Well, like I said, I don't know- I didn't know this woman. How am I a suspect if I don't have a motive to kill?"

Jasper took a deep breath. 'I have to tell him everything!' "You were in the vicinity at the time of death."

Zane still wasn't convinced and said so. "There were many people in that vicinity. In fact, that time is when that part of the city is thriving with life." 'Maybe I shouldn't have put it like that…'

The detective winced a slight bit. "The cause of death was blood loss and there wasn't any sign of struggle." 'I definitely shouldn't have put it like that! He knows!' 

"Your point, detective?"

"I know you're a vampire."

Reviews

[Rain]

Good read.
One suggestion is, for every different person speaking dialogue, start a new sentence. for eg:
"Mr. Noir-"
"Zane, please, we're all friends here."
Anyway, interesting read, and the last line had me wanting more.

[BeanHead:)]

wow. that is good. i like how you got vampires and put them together with mystery and action and like the NCIS sorta thing. very impressive. but im not sure what this sentence was supposed to mean : "He stomped out of the shower, already dry, and through open the bathroom door." maybe try to make it a bit clearer? but awesome job and tell me if you ever complete another chapter because i would love to read it.also your ending had an awesome ring to it. alot of emphasis too. something that a drama queen would say. :)