"City of Blood" drabbles by Brandon Sutton

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 20

City of Blood

If these guy were human, they couldn't have been the killers. Of that, Victor was certain. But perhaps an even better question was, why in the hell would humans have decided to team up and sell their own kind's blood?

The PD were even more pissed than Victor was. He could only imagine how they felt, learning that other humans, not just vampires, were in the business of selling blood. They decided to take in and interrogate the group, personally.

Which left Victor with nothing to do. Good thing; the blood was wearing off anyway. But the cravings were consistent.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 19

City of Blood

The raid went off without a hitch. They even managed to avoid any wild ones pulling a gun on them. All noticed Victor and knew they'd been betrayed, but none seemed angry, which was odd.

It wasn't until then that Victor noticed it. Clearheaded enough to think about the situation, but still with human blood inside him, he was able to notice something he hadn't before. The dealers, the same ones from that night, were human, every last one of them.

Victor could hardly believe what he was sensing. This could only mean one thing: these dealers weren't the killers.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 18

City of Blood

With these developments, the hunt for the killers was becoming more desperate for Victor. Nonetheless, he couldn't keep focused after the previous night. All his thoughts would turn towards blood. He was addicted again, even if he didn't want to accept it.

Still, his work had yielded results for the investigation. With evidence in hand, the PD was ready. They had no time to wait, as this group could be the killers. Victor shouldn't have gone, and somewhere in his mind he knew that. But his duty wouldn't let him skip out on the raid. His duty, and something else.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 17

City of Blood

However, the killers had not slowed down, which was causing tension throughout the city.

In fact, the killers, who now seemed to be dealers in human blood, had doubled their total over a short period of time. Eight were now dead, with the same MO as the others. They were continuing to speed up to alarming rates.

After the seventh victim, a local luminary, was found, the obvious suspects could not be withheld. The public outcry towards vampires started to climb to new heights. After the discovery of the eighth victim, even completely innocent vampires found themselves in serious danger.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 16

City of Blood

Victor didn't sleep the entire night after that. He would just stare at the bag, full to the brim with that beautiful substance.

He had forgotten the taste. The wildness and energy it gives you, like you're invincible. The animal in him was awakened.

The next morning, he went down to the station, to submit the evidence.

"You bastard, you were supposed to come straight back here last night!"

"I couldn't get out immediately, but the blood was there all right. Once we go in, we can prove it for sure."

Victor tossed him the bag of blood, half-empty.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 15

City of Blood

The question took Victor of guard. He had expected to make a purchase, but not actually drink.

On second thought, it made perfect sense. This test would screen out Arbiters. Any vampire refuses, they die. They accept, they're a new customer.

Victor considered the options before him. Not only would drinking it violate his oaths and the laws he protected, it would be doing the very thing he now hunted other vampires for.

But it wouldn't the first time. Victor knew the taste of human blood well. The sheer euphoria. And besides, he had no other choice. Right?

Victor drank.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 14

City of Blood

If these people really were the dealers, they would know right away what they were seeing: a vampire ready to make a certain purchase. Sure enough, the bartender barely needed a word from Victor before he asked:

"Would you like to try a special drink today?"

"I only drink one thing, and it is red and it takes some hunting to find. I'm sure this place has none."

"You may be surprised. Come with me."

Victor followed the man to a back room, and saw multiple blood bags in the room.

"So you do have some."

"Yes. Care to sample?"

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 13

City of Blood

Victor stands outside of a club. According to Drew, this is the place. Behind drunks and closed doors, there was supposed to be dealers. Dealers and murderers.

Drew said he had bought blood here before. The PD could easily bust the place if they wanted to, but they said the word of one filthy bloodsucker wasn't enough for them.

And Drew wouldn't go back in. The weasel said it was too dangerous, and wasn't part of the bargain. So be it. Victor wanted to handle this personally anyway.

Doing his best to look like a degenerate jackass, Victor walked inside.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 12

City of Blood

Victor went back to Drew. This time, he would take a different approach.

"Drew, I've been learning some things about you, and I know you aren't involved with these dealers beyond being a customer. However, that is enough for me as an Arbiter that I can prosecute."

"You don't understand; I rat, I die."

"And just what do you think I mean by 'prosecute?'"

Drew thought for a moment and spoke.

"I'd like a deal. I'll tell you what I know, and you let me go."

"And you'll stop drinking blood?"

"I swear on my life."

"Fine. Time to talk."

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 11

City of Blood

Victor needed the PD's resources now. He just hoped they would give him something he could use.

"So, what have you got on our pal in there?"

"Well, you already know his name is Drew Galeau. Weird enough though, this bastard is as wimpy as possible, and pretty clean for one of your kind. He is an accountant, and has never had any sort of trouble in his life."

"Then its certain."

"What is?"

"He's not working for the killers or dealers at all. He's too timorous. That means he has no loyalty to them, and we can use that."

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 10

City of Blood

Victor took the vampire down to the station. It wasn't his normal method, but then this wasn't a normal case.

"All right, time to talk."

Drew was not about to do that, but he looked enough like a rat that there was potential. Victor decided to play hardball.

"Listen, scumbag, you know as well as I do I could've just wasted your ass. But I think you've know something I want to know, and I'm gonna get it out of you!"

Victor slammed his hand on the table. Drew was visibly scarred, but still wouldn't talk. Victor needed some leverage.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 9

City of Blood

Drew needed to get out of the city soon. All these vampire-related killings would definitely draw the attention of the Arbiters, which was bad news for every vampire drinking blood.

But he needed some blood for the road, so he asked around the local circuit for a blood dealer, and caught wind of one.

From the first look, he could tell the man was a vampire.

"Hey, can I get a couple bags of red, man.?"

"Sorry, but no I don't."

The dealer whipped out handcuffs.

"Victor Klaasen, Arbiter. You're under arrest for consumption of human blood and homicide."

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 8

City of Blood

Victor went to his office, and stayed all-night. It might've been a stereotype, but curling up in a nice coffin to sleep didn't sound so bad.

He'd racked his brain for hours to discover what was happening. Victor hadn't seen anything like this before. Usually, it's just one stubborn jackass that couldn't give up the blood, but this looked far worse.

The PD weren't coming up with any answers either. Victor overheard them talking about a recent heroin bust, but that was all. Suddenly, a breakthrough. It was unheard of, but also the only possibility he could think of.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 7

City of Blood

Meanwhile, a transaction was taking place.

"Ok man, um, can I just get my stuff and leave?"

"Sure. You got the money ready?'

"Yeah! I got it right here. Now, can we hurry? I am starting to get really messed up without it, man."

"No problem, just give me a second."

The dealer went to the back.

The man waiting was Drew Galeau, a vampire for about a decade. He'd given up blood after the ruling; it became just too risky to hunt. Luckily, these dealers had shown up here in Tulsa recently, and he could get his fix again.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 6

City of Blood

"What the hell do you mean there are multiple killers? You bloodsuckers usually can't even stand each other, right?"

"I know you guys think you are cute, but even idiots like you know vampires prefer to work in groups."

"Watch yourself, Victor, or a might have to teach you a lesson about stakes."

"I doubt you could do that. But anyway, the troubling thought is that with the amount of blood they are taking, they should be too inebriated to cooperate like this."

Victor was more confused then before he'd arrived. Something bad was happening, he could just feel it.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 5

City of Blood

Unlike the legends, vampires do sleep at night and come out during the day. However, Victor had no rest that night. He received a call from the PD.

"There can't be another victim already, can there?"

"Yeah, there is. Seems this bloodsucker can't help himself."

Victor received directions to the crime scene and promptly arrived to investigate.

"This makes no sense. He's been completely drained, just like the last victim. But I know that no vampire would even try to drink this much."

"So even vampires have boundaries?"

"That isn't the point. What I'm saying is we have multiple killers."

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 4

City of Blood

After a long day of work, it was nice to go back home and rest. It'd be nicer if it wasn't an empty house he came back to.

Being an Arbiter was not about money or glory, and the sacrifices required were overwhelming at times. Not only was he charged with hunting his own kind, the lifestyle left him alone more often than not.

No human nor vampire would come near him anymore. It'd been nearly a century since the last time he'd felt loved. But considering what had happened then, he convinced himself he was content to just work.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 3

City of Blood

Back at his office, Victor was racking his brain. Usually, finding the vampires at fault was a pretty easy task, but whoever this bloodsucker is, he is proving pretty difficult.

Typically, the feral nature of vampires who drink human blood frequently make them stand out from other vampires. That means that they were dealing with someone highly intelligent. Or that they were being aided.

Either way, the incident was starting to raise tension in Tulsa. The humans of Oklahoma had protested ever since the U.S. decided not to eradicate vampires, and vampire serial killer was making the situation incredibly worse.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 2

City of Blood

In the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a new case had opened for a particular Arbiter.

"Victor Klaasen, Arbiter for the VWA. So what are we looking at here?"

"You've got eyes, don't you? One of your kind has attacked again."

Even though Victor was only there to help, the local PD, like most humans, did not like or trust any vampires, him included. This made things difficult often.

Victor analyzed the body and immediately noticed the lack of blood. The officer was right, it was definitely a vampire. And whoever it was, they had taken their third victim this week.

xavierblaq avatar

City of Blood Pt. 1

City of Blood

When the vampires were found, the world changed forever. Suddenly, they were exposed to the light of day, and would burn if they did not change.

So they decided to change. The Vampiric World Alliance issued new laws, for the sake of their race's survival. Human blood is outlawed, and the Arbiters have been given new orders to crack down.

If only it was that easy. Human blood had always been loved, but it became apparent with time what it really did to vampires. It was a drug, as potent as heroin is for humans. The problems had only begun.