"Nightmares of a Vampire"

[KingOfNowhere]

"Nightmares of a Vampire"​

Nolan thought for sure he would go mad at any moment and was about to simply run outside and end it all … when finally he heard the breakers in the electrical box on the opposite side of the wall being flipped, indicating that the gas station's owner had arrived and was opening for business.

Nolan rose from the seat of the men's room toilet on which he'd sat much of the night and stretched. His body cricked and popped a bit, which made him smile. For a moment, he almost sounded like his true age of 281, as opposed to the late 20-ish or early 30-ish age for which most people took him. He looked to the floor of the bathroom, to the corpse all twisted and huddled up in one corner.

"Well, time to go, I suspect," he said with a casual tone.

Nolan had found the homeless man in a nearby alley the night before. He'd disabled the derelict with a sedative dispensing bite to the neck, tossed him over his shoulder, and carried him here to the gas station bathroom. On previous nights, the night time attendant had always forgotten to lock the door. Wouldn't you know that the one night Nolan decided to use it as a dining location, the attendant would not only lock the door's dead bolt but would then park the station's Road Rescue truck directly in front of the door, preventing it from opening more than a couple of inches!

Nolan didn't even realize his predicament until after he'd drained the man of more than 80% percent of his blood, then sat down to enjoy the euphoria of having his life force return. Once he realized he was trapped for the night, all he could do was sit back and wait. He listened to the station coming to life, then heard the Road Rescue truck move away, then heard the dead bolt click open.

In an instant, Nolan turned the handle and slammed his body against the outward opening door. He felt the barrier slam with great force against the other man, then opened the door to see the owner laying on the ground unconscious. Nolan grimaced and pulled back at the discomfort of the morning sun upon his bare skin. He found and donned his oversized coat and hat, grabbed the back of the dead man's collar, and headed out the door to look around for prying eyes. It was still very early in the morning, and the back side of the station was surrounded by high security fences. So … no witnesses.

Nolan walked out of the bathroom a few steps before letting go of the corpse to rob the unconscious station owner of his keys, cash, and jewelry, to imply that a robbery had taken place. When he finished, he looked to the homeless man behind him, finding only a pile of clothing and an ash cloud that would waft away into oblivion by the end of the day. Nolan picked up the dead man's clothing, tossed it all into a dumpster, and headed away to find a place where he sleep the day away in peace … now that a substantial feeding would keep away the nightmares of a vampire."

 

[Artemidorus]

Audra Muller stepped out of her car, lowering her aviator sunglasses so her green eyes could take in the scene. Forensics was looking over the blood on the door with confused expressions; never a good sign. From what she had heard on the radio, there was a caucasian male down. Cause of death? A door to the nose. Motivation? Supposedly robbery.

But a door was a strange ass weapon of choice.

She walked over to the medical examiner. "What do we have so far?"

Eric Leaner stood up, brows furrowed. "The vic was hit in the face so hard, his lateral septum pushed his maxilla into his frontal lobe."

Audra put her hands on her hips. "You're telling me the cause of death was a nose bone to the brain?" Eric nodded in disbelief. "So it was an accident." She asked.

He shook his head. "I don't think so. His wallet and keys are 'accidentally' gone. And besides, there's evidence the guy was squatting in there all night, waiting to take him out when he opened up in the morning."

"Anything else?" Audra asked.

"No witnesses. This place is in the middle of nowhere. His boss found him. He blames the vagrants that live in that abandoned factory over there." Eric crossed his arms.

"That's the closest place to run to, after commiting a murder, right?"

Eric nodded. "Surveillance doesn't record back here, but it does record the only road out. No cars came in or out at the time of the murder. The perp left on foot."

Audra thought for a moment. "Then at the very least, maybe someone in that factory saw something."

She headed over, acknowledging the needles and broken glass in the grass, thankful she was wearing boots today. She pulled her gun, just in case, and used her flashlight to stead it. She could knock, but the door was already only on one hinge. "Police! Detective Muller! Open up."

 

[KingOfNowhere]

Nolan was tickled pink that today he was going to get a good night's sleep. Or, a good day's sleep anyway. Having fed during the night, he would roll up on his makeshift bed in the corner of the factory's third floor and sleep soundly. Ironically, it wasn't the dead to the world REM sleep that his wholy human counterparts enjoyed when they slept well; his subconscious -- also indirectly fed -- would be very aware of Nolan's surroundings while his conscious caught up on rest.

So although he slept right through the excitement taking place down at the gas station a block and a half away, when he was so rudely awoken by the cop entering the building, his subconscious caught his conscious up on current events in a flash.

"Police! Detective Muller! Open up."

Nolan sat up quickly, scanned the gutted third floor of the former factory floor, and listened to the interaction between the female cop and the squatters on the first floor. He knew she was here looking for him, even though she herself didn't know that. He wasn't really in the mood for interactions with the authorities, obviously; he'd killed one man intentionally and -- his subconscious caught Nolan up -- had apparently killed the second one when he too anxiously slammed the door into his face.

Shit happens, he thought to himself as she stood and donned the coat he'd been using as a blanket. He chastised himself at the thought, knowing that he'd caused himself more attention than was necessary. If he hadn't slammed the morning shift guy so hard, the cops might not have even responded to the scene. After all, there was far more crime with which to deal that the simple assault of a gas station attendant. Be careful next time.

Cocking his head, Nolan listened as the officer ascended a set of stairs, questioning to the squatters as she went. The homeless men and women living here said nothing to her that would lead them to Nolan, of course: first, they were a tightknit group of refugees from proper society who more often than not thought the police were the enemy; and second, Nolan was sort of a favorite of theirs, bringing them food, cigarettes, booze, and other necessities of life on occasion.

He may have been a blood thirty vampire, but Nolan was also a benevolent community member who knew not to eat where he slept.

He peaked down through a damaged section of the third floor decking at the approaching cop, moving this way and that to keep his eyes on her as she, too, moved. She was an attractive woman, not really what he would have expected in a cop. Detective, Nolan told himself, at one moment getting an quick view of the badge on her belt. Just like the squatters thought all cops were the enemy, Nolan sometimes assumed all female cops were ugly, short, and fat. Not this one; she was actually the kind of woman in which Nolan might find himself interested, if he was looking for something other than a warm pint or two of blood.

He remained where he was in the middle of the deck as she reached the third floor and looked at him. The smiling Nolan already had his hands raised casually to the sides in a surrender gesture. In fact -- with a bit of humor -- he even said to her, "I surrender. And I confess. I did steal the last roll of toilet paper from the gas station bathroom when I used it before closing last night."

Slowly, he lowered his hands and put them out before him, saying, "I have a bad shoulder, though, so … if you have to cuff me, could we do it out in front?"

Nolan waited to see what the detective's reaction would be to his confession to something she wasn't investigating. He had to tell her he'd been in the station's facilities, of course; his fingerprints and DNA -- yes, vampires had both -- were all over the little 8x8x8 foot space. If she decided to take him in for further questioning, he couldn't deny having been there. All Nolan could do was admit proximity to the crime scene while simultaneously denying participation in the crime.

 

[Artemidorus]

Audra crossed her arms. "I don't see any reason to cuff you, if all you did was steal some toilet paper." It wasn't suspicious he knew she was here from the gas station- from the third floor it would be impossible not to see the lights of the squad cars at the scene. "But since you were there last night, its. Likely you were the last person to see the attendant alive. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

She asked him all the basic questions. He was polite, funny, and to top it off, handsome. He was so starkly out of place among the other vagrants, that she was gonna bring him in for questioning. If one if the other vagabonds had admited to being at the scene, one that stank of booze or shuddered from drugs, she'd just question here. But there was something... Odd about him. Nolan, he said his name was. He didnt seem the type to murder anyone, but he did seem sharp enough to remember something from this morning.

There was sonething else, too. A... Need almost. To help him. He wasn't like the others. No booze on his breath or marks on hisbskin. He was clean, at least in the figurative way. Not drunk or high. So why was he here? "Lets talk more at the station, shall we?"

She took him in her car, and it wasn't a far drive. Audra didn't want to put him in a room, draw unnecessary attention to him, so she sat him at her desk. She pulled out a report, filling out his name and a few other details he gave. Then she laid into questioning him about the events of last night, how late he was at the gas station, if the attendant was acting suspicious, and if any of the other squatters in the factory seemed especially dangerous or violent.

It became clear that he didn't know much anything that would be of help. She jotted down all his answers, and ran a quick background check on the computer. He was clean. Squeaky clean. Something that was NOT common among vagrants.

"I'm gonna address the elephant in the room. Why are you squatting in that decrepit building when you're smart, good looking, clean, and have no criminal record?" She threw up her hands, then leaned back in her chair. "I'm sorry, but if you want to go back to the place you'll have to walk. I'm not taking you back. I could find you a shelter- or a rehab or-" she sighed, unable to believe the words about to come out of her mouth. "Or you could stay with me a few nights. But I can't have it on my conscious if i take you back there and let you fall into that life style."

 

[KingOfNowhere]

Audra crossed her arms. "I don't see any reason to cuff you, if all you did was steal some toilet paper."

"All I did was steal some toilet paper," Nolan repeated with a playful smile. When she said she wanted to ask some more questions, he relaxed his arms to his side and said, "Shoot. I may not have much, but I do have answers. But first, I told you my name. Can you tell me yours?"

The detective was either going to tell Nolan her first name as he had, her full name, her surname with Detective before it, or none of the above. Either way was fine with him.

And it was true what Nolan said, that he did in fact have answers. Not that he was going to share many of them with Audra, though. He told her that he had in fact been at the station last night, sometime after dark but still long before closing; that he hadn't been there this morning at all yet; that he didn't know who amongst his vagrant kin had been down there last night after him, though, it had probably been most of them; or -- obviously -- that he'd killed not just a newly arrived squatter (and thus not who he would consider a friend) with intention nor that he'd killed the morning attendant by accident.

Nolan had hoped that would be sufficient and that the Detective would let him get back to his nap. He didn't really have to sleep now, of course; he'd fed last night, and that always reinvigorated him far more than a good 8 hours of sleep would aid a regular human type. No, Nolan liked to sleep simply because it passed the time, and these days with his various troubles, Nolan preferred that his days flew by quickly rather than leaving him sitting here in a shadows remembering his haunted past.

But Audra invited Nolan down to the station for more questioning. He didn't have to go, of course; he wasn't under arrest, and the Detective didn't even seem to be looking at his as a suspect. But Nolan told Audra he was more than happy to accompany her. He gathered up his blanket and the bunched up spare clothes he'd been using as a pillow and shoved them all deep inside a smallish sized military surplus rucksack. He went first, to let Audra keep an eye on him, and they reached the exit on the first floor without incident.

But looking out at the well lit pavement beyond the still open door caused Nolan to hesitate. He looked to Audra with a concerned expression and explained, "I, um … I have a medical condition … skin disease … sunlight, it … I feel it more intensely than most people do, to the point of feeling pain at it falling upon my skin."

As he set his bag on the ground, put his jacket's hood up over his head to hide his neck and partially conceal his face, then rolled his sleeves down to protect his arms down past his wrists, Nolan continued to explain, "I saw a doctor about it once … a headshrinker, actually. He said it was all in my mind."

It wasn't, of course, and as soon as Nolan picked his back up again and stepped out of the shadows to head for the unmarked cruiser, he could feel the needling feel upon his face and hands. No one amongst the vampire community knew what direct or sometimes even indirect sunlight affected them in this way. It wasn't like there were support groups online or in the basements of local churches; there wasn't an army of medical doctors and researchers looking into the issue.

Nolan assumed that his human body simply wasn't producing something it needed now that it was, in essence, dead. He reached the cruiser and took the seat Audra offered, wondering whether her partner would ride with them for her own security. At the precinct, he grimaced through yet another short walk through the light to the relative pleasure of the building's interior. He was given coffee and a choice of the remaining donuts -- figures! -- in a box setting on a currently unused detective's desk.

Audra pulled out the obligatory blank forms and began asking him questions. He answered them without hesitation...

"Nolan Wheeler..."

"30 this past May..."

"That particular building...? Three months maybe...?"

"No, no drug use. I like an occasional dark brew, but, no money lately, so..."

"No … no family, in this area or anywhere else for that matter. Never married, never had kids … parents died when I was young … car crash..."

"No, I've never been arrested. My prints are ... how do you say it, in the system? I was printed for a job that required a security check once, so..."

They returned to the questions about the night before, this morning, and the dead attendant. Nolan responded to all of her questions without hesitation, not that his answers were truthful, of course. Nolan couldn't tell from Audra's reaction to his responses whether she doubted him or whether she simply found him … intriguing.

He got his answer when she gave him what sounded like a compliment, then suggested...

"Or you could stay with me a few nights. But I can't have it on my conscious if i take you back there and let you fall into that life style."

Nolan couldn't help but smile at Audra's offer. It had been quite a while since a woman had asked him to come home with her. In fact, it had probably been before Audra was born. Of course, it wasn't asked in the context of Would you like to go back to my place for a nightcap and sex, like it had been that last time while he'd been out clubbing and looking for a meal. But still, it perked Nolan up and brought a bit of comfort to his otherwise uncomfortable life.

"Are you sure?" he asked with obvious concern, not for him but for her. "You don't know me."

But her offer was real, and Nolan accepted it with the promise, "I'm not a freak or anything like that. I'm just … I just don't have a home is all."

He didn't know if she meant right away or at the end of her shift; in fact, he didn't even know if she had an end-of-shift while on a case. Either way, he told her that he could just hang out in a waiting room or hallway if that was necessary. He reached into his coat and withdrew two $1 bills and some change, asking, "If there a machine where I can get something to eat?"

 

[Artemidorus]

He was odd, but a light sensitive skin condition wasn't the strangest thing she had ever seen. It wasn't even the strangest this week. "Audra Muller." She had told him. She let him ride shotgun, as she was... Between partners at the moment. There wasn't any other female detectives, and they said she didn't work well with males. The truth was, males didnt work well with her.

So, she was stuck without a partner, and on stupid cases, like the gas station murder. Or homicide. Whatever it was. It didn't matter, the clerk was someone's son or dad or brother, and Audra would take any case, big or small, and she'd take it serious. So she sat down with Nolan and asked him all the usual questions. And she took notes.

He had no history, despite having his prints in the system. That was a good sign. No pick ups for suspicious activity, no drug busts. She'd expected at least a couple trespasses. Zip. Zilch. Nada. She excused him, saying "Just give me a sec."

She had a few things to finished before she packed up her things- being a detective, she had no set hours, but she finished the report on the incident, and did some more research on the vagrants in that warehouse. After a few seconds turned ti a few hours, Audra headed to the hall to look for Nolan, who was looking for the vending machine. "Uh- we can stop on the way home for real food?"

They took her car through the drivethrough at the nearest restruant, and she let Nolan get whatever. She got a kids meal for Sammy, and a diet coke for herself.

Her home was old, but modest, with two floors and a nice kitchen. She had inherited from her parents, who moved to florida in an RV. It was way too big for her, but the rent was free. At the moment, it was sparse, like she didn't have enough furniture to spread around the place, and never bother to get any. She had a couch and a tv, and all the kitchen essentials, but none of the decretive pillows and side tables everyone expects to see.

She showed Nolan around, to the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room. She welcomed him to her Netflix account and to anything in the fridge. Then she showed him the guest room. The bed wasnt made, and there was a few cardboard boxes still unpacked, and rather dusty.

"The uh- sheets and stuff are in that closet." She pointed. "I know I woke you up earlier, so I'll let you get settled in and get some rest."

She left him, heading to her study. Audra opened her laptop anf checked to see if there was any other robberies close by, or if anyone had been released from prison recently with a similar MO. It wasn't long before she head a knock on the door. "Shit!" She shouted, almost spilling her wine on herself. "Is it Friday?"

She ran to the door, to see a dirty blonde little girl and a frowning man. She took a deep breath before opening it. "Hi- I-"

Steven shoved his way inside. "We came by at 4 like we agreed and you weren't here." She said, crossing his arms.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was busy. There was a-"

Steven cut her off again. "Sam told me you left her here alone last week."

"It was only for a few hours I had to-"

He interupted again, bearing down on her. "If it happens again, she's gone. I can pull a few strings- younknow that. And you'll never see her again."

Sammy looked scared, and Audra tried to stay calm. She eanted to scream at her ex, throw a punch, but she took a deep breaty. "It won't happen again."

"We'll see." He huffed. Something on the table caught his eye. "Fast food for dinner? Mom of the year."

He finally left, and she locked the door behind him. She put her palm to her forehead, thinking about how much she hated Steven. Then she forced a smile. "Sammy, you want nuggets for dinner?"

Audra got her daughter fed, cleaned up, and then in bed. It felt like the rest of the afternoon was tied up in her mom duties. She almost forgot about the stranger she was letting sleep in the spare room. She sighed as she closed Sam's door, and headed to the kitchen for another glass of wine. She poured two, then brought them to Nolan's door. She knocked, offering the booze. "It's no dark brew but here." She glanced at the living room as the house grew ever darker. "Do you wanna watch TV with me?"

 

[KingOfNowhere]

"I like it," Nolan told Audra after he'd walked through the main first floor rooms of her residence. He wondered how long she'd been waiting to unpack the still filled boxes and purchase the typical furnishings. Smiling, he told her, "It's homey."

Nolan reassured her that the spare room was far more than he'd expected or deserved. He was an unknown, a vagrant, a potential suspect; Audra was crazy to bring him home with her, Nolan knew, though he didn't say it out loud. He took her up on her offer to return to his midday nap, asking first if he could clean up. There was a half bath off the spare room, with a second door leading to the hall adjacent to the kitchen. Nolan had only intended on stripping off his shirt, unbuckling his pants, and cleaning his pits, but he didn't hesitate when she found him a towel and told him he could shower if he wished.

He was just finishing up when he heard Audra talking to herself and then to a man. He didn't have to open the door to the hallway to hear them, but he cracked it anyway, to peek out at the male half of what was threatening to become a confrontation. The presence of the 8 or 9 year old girl told Nolan that the man had to be his hostess's ex-husband. The words exchanged between them told Nolan that their current situation was not one of continuing love and affection.

The man threatened to deny Audra a future with her child, then criticized her mothering skills in relationship to dinner. Nolan clenched his jaws in building anger; an image filled his mind's eye of his mouth being at the man's neck, draining him to death, then letting his corpse burn to ash and blow away in the wind. But would that be good for Audra and her daughter in the long run?

She came to his door with wine and an invitation to watch television. He was dressed in his second set of clothes -- a tee shirt that showed off his fit torso and jeans that did the same for his muscular ass -- and had his still somewhat wet black curls slicked back to his head.

They ended up sitting together in her living room looking for something to watch. He couldn't help but laugh when the first Netflix offering was a series about vampires. He said with humor, "Pass."

They ended up starting a movie about 19th century life in Wales on BBC America which brought back some memories of Nolan's life before America. He couldn't help but snort derisively at some of the historical inaccuracies; when Audra gave him a curious look, he only told her, "I've done a little research on the period."

Nolan wasn't really that interested in the show or the time and place it was depicting, though. When they reached a commercial break, he asked her quite bluntly, "So, what's your story … you know, regarding your Ex? I'm assuming he has custody because of your job and you get … what was her name?"

After Audra answered his question, Nolan continued, "You have weekends 'cause you're a cop."

 

[Artemidorus]

"Done a little research?" She asked, with a cocked brow. She was going to press him for more, but she stopped. She had already questioned him so much today. She turned back to the program, and it was actually interesting. Even if her company was noisy and derivative. Though, she liked it. It was charming.

She bit her lip, chewing over his questions. "You heard all that? I'm sorry." She looked down at the ground. "Her name is Samantha, or Sam. Or Sammy." She took a sip of her wine. "Steven is an attorney. He's... also an asshole." She sighed, leaning back into the couch and looking at the ceiling.

"It's less about my job and more about who he knows. Which is pretty much every judge in this district. He convinced the state that Sam was better off with him, and at the time I left him, I had no money of my own. I was staying in a tiny apartment. He had this big house, good job, and all the people in charge under his belt. I barely even saw the time in court to try to fight him."

She swirled her wine around in her glass. Her work shirt was mostly unbuttoned now, and underneath she wore a sheer tank top. She pulled her legs up so she was sitting crosslegged. "My parents left me this house, they moved to Florida. Still it's..." she looked down into her wine. "Hard doing all this alone.

She had no idea why she was telling him all this, but his presence put her at ease. She felt like she could trust him, be it her gut instinct or something else entirely. She liked him.

 

[KingOfNowhere]

"Done a little research?" She asked, with a cocked brow.

Nolan only smiled and shrugged. He didn't come across like your typical squatter vagrant. Honestly, he didn't even do a very good job of faking being one when he tried.

Audra told him about her troubles in life in regards to her ex-husband. Nolan listened with a sincere expression, though, he really didn't have anything to add to the conversation. Would you like me to suck his body dry of blood and get him out of your hair? didn't seem like an appropriate thing to say to a cop.

When she went quiet, though, Nolan told her, "Listen, you don't know me, but … I could help. I need a home, and you need help around your home. You already ran a background check on me--"

Audra hadn't told him that, of course, but Nolan was no idiot: you don't bring a potential murder scene witness -- or suspect! -- home with you unless you've ran him through all of the appropriate law authority data bases and come back with a clean bill.

He continued, "--and you know that I'm either a good guy or I'm very good at not getting caught."

Nolan smiled, then even chuckled a bit. He continued, "And I like children, too … preferably broiled, with lots of pepper and a little bit of garlic … and a good red wine..."

Again he smiled to Audra, continuing with a more serious tone, "You need a break … I need a break … and you know that until you put this case to bed, you're gonna need me to stick around a while anyway. Who knows, maybe I can go back to the squat … ask some questions … I could be one of those, whaddaya call'em … CI's…? Confidential Informants?"

Nolan shrugged, lifted his wine glass, and finished, "Hell, you're already trusting me with your grocery store wine and clean bedding. How much more of a leap is that to babysitting your kid?"