Killing Nikovage Bloodhunter

Chapter 6

June 15th, 2003
Denton Valley, New York
Ramsey's Cabin

Travis had the front door open in under five seconds. I pushed past him and walked in first, silver knife drawn just in case, surveying the room. Obviously, the body had been removed, but the bloodstained carpet remained. Fingerprint powder was everywhere, and I noticed a few missing things. Perhaps they'd been taken into evidence.

I choked on the air, which wasn't much fresher than it had been when I discovered the body. It was rancid, and I heard Travis gag behind me as he stepped over the threshold.

While the Winchesters got their first look at the scene of the murder, Quill started looking around, doing his own thing. Poor Charlie. He definitely didn't sign up for this, but he was a good sport, lingering in the doorway, watching the street for any signs of trouble.

"Check the drawers of the coffee table," I told Connor. "Travis, the desk?"

They got working while I continued into the bedroom and rolled back the rug, revealing the trap door. I hauled it open and peered inside. Everything was exactly as I had left it and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anyone need stakes?" I called, shifting the weapons around so I could get better access to the books and the files of papers.

"We'll take some!" Dean replied. "Although I've never had much luck with staking a vamp. Dad always told up to behead them."

"Both are effective if you know what you're doing," I said, pulling a handful of stakes out and setting them down behind me. "We're taking all this."

Kipps appeared in the doorway, frowning.

"You can't just walk away with..." Then he saw the hidden library. "We need to get that out of here before the local sheriff finds it."

"Sheriff James is a bit of a tool," I said, deciding not to comment on how "you" turned into "we."

He knelt beside me and we started pulling the massive, dusty tomes out of the floor and placing the between us.

"Did you figure it out yet?" I asked Quill.

"What?"

"What happened here."

"I haven't gotten a good look around yet."

"Then I'll tell you what we think happened. The point of access was the skylight above the kitchen. I'm convinced that Nikovage Bloodhunter did it himself. I don't know how else it could have happened. You need superhuman strength to lift it open, or about eight people, which seems improbable," I said.

Kipps grabbed another armload of books and stacked them.